Energy absorption and failure response of silk/epoxy composite square tubes: Experimental

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThis paper focuses on natural silk/epoxy composite square tubes energy absorption and failure response. The tested specimens were featured by a material combination of different lengths and same numbers of natural silk/epoxy composite layers in form of reinforced woven fabric in thermosetting epoxy resin. Tubes were compressed in INSTRON 5567 with a loading capacity of 30 kN. This research investigates the influence of the wall lengths on the compressive response and also failure mode of the tested tubes are analysed. The load-displacement behaviour of square tubes recorded during the test. Since natural woven silk has been used as textile in centuries but due to rare study of this fabric as reinforcement material for composites, the results of this paper can be considerable. Outcomes from this paper might be helpful to guide the design of crashworthy structures.

Bombyx moriSilk Fibers: An Outstanding Family of Materials

“…In another interesting application outside from the biomedical field, B. mori woven silk fibers were introduced as reinforcement in different polymeric matrices for automotive applications, such as crashworthy structures (Figure ) . The impressive mechanical properties, in addition to their advantages in environmental stability, biocompatibility, controlled biodegradability, morphologic flexibility, and low density, makes silk as a promising candidate for composite structures achieving good performances in terms of energy absorption and failure response.…”

“…Compression test of silk/epoxy composite for crashworthy structures. Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2012, Elsevier.…”

Investigating the quasi-static axial crushing behavior of polymeric foam-filled composite pultrusion square tubes

“…They found that the use of hybrid lamination of FRP tubes was advantageous for the crashworthiness parameters and capabilities of composite materials. Ataollahi et al [14] conducted a study to determine the crushing behavior of silk fiber-reinforced epoxy square tube profile with different numbers of laminated structures. They found that the influence of different laminates improves the absorbed specific energy and crush force efficiency.…”

Experimental Tests on the Composite Foam Sandwich Pipes Subjected to Axial Load

“…20 and 22). As stated, the previous three modes were typical brittle failure, governed by material properties of the internal and external layers [17,18]; the bearing capacity instantly dropped to a very small value when the ultimate load was reached (Figs. 5,7,9,11 and 15); while the other two failure modes took the form of ductile failure, where the load declined slowly or in a fluctuating way (Figs.…”