Energy absorption capability of nanocomposites: A review

Over the past several decades, a noticeable amount of research efforts has been directed to minimising injuries and death to people inside a structure that is subjected to an impact loading. Thin-walled (TW) tubular components have been widely employed in energy absorbing structures to alleviate the detrimental effects of an impact loading during a collision event and thus enhance the crashworthiness performance of a structure. Comprehensive knowledge of the material properties and the structural behaviour of various TW components under various loading conditions is essential for designing an effective energy absorbing system. In this paper, based on a broad survey of the literature, a comprehensive overview of the recent developments in the area of crashworthiness performance of TW tubes is given with a special focus on the topics that emerged in the last ten years such as crashworthiness optimisation design and energy absorbing responses of unconventional TW components including multi-cells tubes, functionally graded thickness tubes and functionally graded foam filled tubes. Due to the huge number of studies that analysed and assessed the energy absorption behaviour of various TW components, this paper presents only a review of the crashworthiness behaviour of the components that can be used in vehicles structures including hollow and foam-filled TW tubes under lateral, axial, oblique and bending loading.

https://myresearchspace.uws.ac.uk/ws/files/1765038/Paper_2.pdf

On the crashworthiness performance of thin-walled energy absorbers: Recent advances and future developments

The suitability of a progressive failure material model to simulate the quasi-static crushing of a composite specimen is evaluated. The commercially available material model MAT54 “Enhanced Composite Damage” in LS-DYNA is often utilized to simulate damage progression in dynamic failure simulations because it requires a reduced number of experimental input parameters compared to damage mechanics-based material models. The composite specimen used for the experiments is a semi-circular sinusoid, and is comprised of carbon fiber/epoxy unidirectional prepreg tape. Results show that MAT54 can successfully reproduce experimental results, however the simulation is highly sensitive to changes in model parameters, which are either non-physical (i.e. are purely mathematical expedients), or cannot be measured experimentally. These include element size, contact definition, load–penetration curve, and crush front softening parameter, among others. Therefore, achieving successful simulation results requires extensive calibration of these parameters by trial and error, and a deep understanding of the strengths and challenges of the selected modeling strategy.

LS-DYNA MAT54 modeling of the axial crushing of a composite tape sinusoidal specimen

The interest in using natural fiber reinforced composites is now at its highest. Numerous studies have been conducted due to their positive benefits related to environmental issues. Even though they have limitations for some load requirements, this drawback has been countered through fiber treatment and hybridization. Sandwich structure, on the other hand, is a combination of two or more individual components with different properties, which when joined together can result in better performance. Sandwich structures have been used in a wide range of industrial material applications. They are known to be lightweight and good at absorbing energy, providing superior strength and stiffness-to-weight ratios, and offering opportunities, through design integration, to remove some components from the core element. Today, many industries use composite sandwich structures in a range of components. Through good design of the core structure, one can maximize the strength properties, with a low density. However, the application of natural fiber composites in sandwich structures is still minimal. Therefore, this paper reviewed the possibility of using a natural fiber composite in sandwich structure applications. It addressed the mechanical properties and energy-absorbing characteristics of natural fiber-based sandwich structures tested under various compression loads. The results and potential areas of improvement to fit into a wide range of engineering applications were discussed.

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/3/423/pdf

Potential of Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites in Sandwich Structures: A Review on Its Mechanical Properties.

It is widely known that the demand for lightweight structures with excellent energy absorption capacity is paramount in numerous engineering applications. Many publications have revealed that corrugated structures can collapse in a relatively controlled manner with a uniform force-displacement response and have remarkable energy absorption efficiency when compared with traditional structures without corrugations. The present work provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in the development of corrugated structures for energy absorption applications, also considering the effects of corrugation characteristics on their crashworthiness. Such advanced energy absorbers include corrugated tubes, corrugated tapered tubes, corrugated beam and plates, corrugated honeycombs, corrugated core sandwich panels and other hybrid structures with complex corrugations. This review demonstrates that thin-walled structures with introduced corrugations can achieve more efficient and effective energy absorption. Finally, contemporary challenges of design and manufacture are discussed, as well as future directions for corrugated structures. This synopsis provides a useful platform for researchers and engineers designing corrugated structures for energy absorption applications.

Thin-walled corrugated structures: A review of crashworthiness designs and energy absorption characteristics

The controlled brittle failure of thermosetting fiber-reinforced polymer composites can provide a very efficient energy absorption mechanism. Consequently, the use of these materials in crashworthy vehicle designs has been the subject of considerable interest. In this respect, their more widespread application has been limited by the complexity of their collapse behavior. This article reviews the current level of understanding i this field, including the correlations between failure mode and energy absorption, the principal material, geometric, and physical parameters relevant to crashworthy design and methods of predicting the energy absorption capability of polymer composites. Areas which require further investigation are identified. This review article contains 70 references.

A. P. Kettle

Papers

Energy Absorption Capability and Crashworthiness of Composite Material Structures: A Review