Axial impact of E-glass fiber/epoxy and carbon fiber/epoxy composite frusta with square and circular cross-sections

In this work, the energy absorption of woven [0/90] Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) composite and Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) composite square and circular frusta under low-velocity axial impact loading is numerically investigated. The uniform wall thickness with semi-apical angles in the range of 15-24° including several numbers of layups has been considered for models to evaluate the influence of semi-apical angle and composite material on the crashworthiness of these structures. The finite element analysis (FEA) was performed using 〖ABAQUS〗^® software to predict the collapse behavior of GFRP and CFRP specimen models. The energy-absorption characteristics along with load-deformation of models at specific strain rate and impactor mass were also studied. Numerical results have been validated with experimental results available in literature and their collapse behavior was compared.

Keywords:

Axial Impact , Finite element analysis , Crashworthiness , Composite energy absorbers