Experiment Study of Effect of Apex Angle of Taper Round Tube Under Quasi Static Axial Crushing on Energy Absorption

Abstract

Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) has gained much attraction due to their outstanding physical and mechanical properties and it is widely used for various industry. The main objective of this present studies is to investigate the change of angle in taper round tube onto its energy absorption and to analyze the performance of taper round tube in energy absorption, crushing characteristics and its crashworthiness. Besides that, crushing characteristics of GFRP taper round tubes with different angles which are 0°, 2°, 4°, 6°, and 8°was determined using Universal Testing Machine (UTM) Instron series 3367. The energy absorption was calculated from the graph which is also the area under the load-displacement curve. Furthermore, the specific energy absorption was calculated by substituting the mass of the specimen into the specific equation (SEA = EA/mass). To find out the effect of crashworthiness of GFRP taper round tube, the crushing process and results were recorded as well. The highest energy absorption (EA) and specific energy absorption (SEA) were 506.812 kJ and 16.999.71 kJ/kg respectively. Lastly, the relationships between each parameter are discussed in the report. The design of the specimen and fabrication preparation plays a very significant role in quasistatic axial crushing test which must be decide carefully. From this experimental study, Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) taper round tube with an angle of 6°is found to be the best for energy absorber as it has the highest energy absorption and specific energy absorption (SEA).