Crashworthiness of Laterally Compressed Composite Tubes between V-shape Dies and V-shape Indenters

The present article introduces a new energy absorption method by circular composite tubes during the quasistatic lateral compression between V-shape dies and indenters. Some composite specimens were prepared with different characteristics to study effects of die and indenter angles, tube diameter and length, and PVC Teflon-filler on crashworthiness behavior by the structure. Dies and their corresponding indenters with different apex angles were produced by a CNC machine and the specimens were compressed in three different conditions: between V-shape die and indenter, between rigid platen and V-shape indenter, between two rigid platens. Experimental results indicate that in some cases, energy absorption/mass of the specimens between V-shape die and indenter is 145% and 89% higher than the samples with conditions of V-shape indenter-rigid platen and rigid platen-rigid platen, respectively. Furthermore, results show that by increasing apex angles of die and indenter, energy absorption capability increases.