Crashworthiness of CFRP/aluminum alloy hybrid tubes under quasi-static axial crushing

• Published in: Journal of materials research and technology Vol. 9; no. 4; pp. 7740 - 7753
• Main Authors: Zang, Meng, Hu, Yefa, Zhang, Jinguang, Ye, Wei, Zhao, Mingming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-07-2020; Elsevier
• Subjects: Affecting factors; CFRP/aluminum alloy hybrid tubes; Crashworthiness; Quasi-static axial crushing; Simulation; Test; Simulation; CFRP/aluminum alloy hybrid tubes; Test; Affecting factors; Quasi-static axial crushing; Crashworthiness
• ISSN: 2238-7854
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmrt.2020.05.046

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP)/aluminum alloy hybrid tubes is a lightweight and energy absorption structure in the automobile design. In this paper, simulations and tests are conducted to study the crashworthiness of the hybrid tubes under the quasi-static axial crushing. According to the research on the effect of cross section shapes on the crashworthiness, it can be found that the specific energy absorption (SEA) and the crushing force efficiency (CFE) of the circle cross section are the largest. For the CFRP/aluminum alloy hybrid tubes with the circle cross section, the finite element analysis (FEA) model under the quasi-static axial crushing are built, and the specimens for tests are manufactured. The affecting factors on the crashworthiness are studied including the length, the thickness ratio of the aluminum alloy to the CFRP (tm/tc), the layer number, the fiber direction and the proportion of the axial fibers to the circumferential fibers. The load–displacement curves and the crashworthiness indicators of the different affecting factors are obtained, and how the factors affect the crashworthiness are discussed. In addition, the process of the quasi-static axial crushing, the failure modes and the energy absorption mechanisms are analyzed. This study provides a reference for the application of the CFRP/aluminum alloy hybrid tubes in the automobile lightweight and crashworthiness design.