The energy absorption capability of a composite material is critical to developing improved human safety in an automotive crash. Energy absorption is dependent on many parameters like fiber type, matrix type, fiber architecture, specimen geometry, processing conditions, fiber volume fraction, and testing speed. Changes in these parameters can cause subsequent changes in the specific energy absorption (ES) of composite materials up to a factor of 2. This paper is a detailed review of the energy absorption characteristics in polymer composite materials. An attempt is made to draw together and categorize the work done in the field of composite energy absorption that has been published in the literature in order to better understand the effect of a particular parameter on the energy absorption capability of composite materials. A description of the various test methodologies and crushing modes in composite tubes is also presented. Finally, this paper raises certain design issues by examining the work rate decay necessary to keep the deceleration below 20g during an impact crash.
1. Hull, D. (1988). Energy absorbing composite structures. Sci. and Techn. Rev., University of Wales, 3: 23–30.
2.
2. Farley, G.L. (December 1992). Relationship between mechanical property and energy absorption trends for composite tubes. NASA TP-3284, ARL-TR-29, 1–13.
3.
3. Hull, D. (1991). A unified approach to progressive crushing of fiber reinforced composite tubes.Comp. Sci. and Tech., 40: 377–421.
4.
4. Farley, G.L. (1987). Energy absorption of composite material and structures. In: Proceedings of the 43rd American Helicopter Society Annual Forum. St. Louis, USA. pp. 613–627.
5.
5. Farley, G.L. (1986). Effect of specimen geometry on the energy absorption capability of composite materials. J. Comp. Mater., 20: 390–400.
6.
6. Farley, G.L. (1983). Energy absorption of composite materials. J. Comp. Mater., 17: 267–279.
7.
7. Farley, G.L. (1986). Effect of fiber and matrix maximum strain on the energy absorption of composite materials, J. Comp. Mater., 20: 322–334.
8.
8. Farley, G.L. (1987). Energy absorption in composite materials for crashworthy structures. In: Matthews, F.L.Buskell, N.C.R.Hodgkinson, J.M. and Mortan, J. (eds.), In: Proceedings of the ICCM 6. London: Elsevier Science Publishers Limited. pp. 3.57–3.66.
9.
9. Thornton, P.H. and Edwards, P.J. (1982). Energy absorption in composite tubes, J. Comp. Mater., 16: 521–545.
10.
10. Hull, D. (1983). Axial crushing of fibre reinforced composite tubes. In: Jones, N. and Weirzbicki, T. (eds.), In Structural Crashworthiness. London: Butterworth. pp. 118–135.
11.
11. Hamada, H., Ramakrishna, S., Maekawa, Z. and Nakamura, M. (1994). Energy absorption behavior of hybrid composite tubes. In: Proceedings of the 10th Annual ASM/ESD Advanced Composite Conference. Dearborn, Michigan, USA. pp. 511–522.
12.
12. Schmuesser, D.W. and Wickliffe, L.E. (1987). Impact energy absorption of continuous fiber composite tubes. J. Engg. Mat. and Tech., 109: 72–77.
13.
13. Hamada, H. and Ramakrishna, S. (1996). Effect of fiber material on the energy absorption behavior of thermoplastic composite tubes. J. Thermoplastic Composite Materials. 9(3): 259–279.
14.
14. Farley, G.L. and Jones, R.M. (1992). Analogy for the effect of material and geometrical variables on energy absorption capability of composite tubes. J. Comp. Mater., 26(1): 78–89.
15.
15. Farley, G.L. (1992). Prediction of the energy absorption capability of composite tubes. J. Comp. Mater., 26(3): 388–404.
16.
16. Thornton, P.H. (1979). Energy absorption in composite structures. J. Comp. Mater., 13: 247–262.
17.
17. Chiu, C.H.Lu, C.K. and Wu, C.M. (1997). Crushing characteristics of 3-D braided composite square tubes. J. Comp. Mater., 31(22): 2309–2327.
18.
18. Chiu, C.H., Lu, C.K. and Wu, C.M. (1995). Energy absorption of three-dimensional braided composite tubes. In: Whistler, B.C. (ed.), In: Proceedings of the ICCM 10. Canada. pp. 4.187–4.194.
19.
19. Ramakrishna, S., Hamada, H., Maekawa, Z. and Sato, H. (1995). Energy absorption behavior of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite tubes. J. Thermo. Comp. Mater., 8: 323–344.
20.
20. Chang, I.Y. and Lees, J.K. (1998). Recent development in thermoplastic composites: a review of matrix systems and processing methods. J. Thermo. Comp. Mater., 1: 277–295.
21.
21. Chang, I.Y. (1985). Thermoplastic matrix continuous filament composites of kevlar, aramid or graphite fiber. Comp. Sci. and Techn., 24: 61–79.
22.
22. Satoh, H., Hirakawa, H., Maekawa, Z., Hamada, H., Nakamura, M. and Hull, D. (1993). Comparison of energy absorption among carbon/thermoplastic tubes. 38th International SAMPE Symposium, Science of Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Series, Vol. 38, 10–13 May. pp. 952–966.
23.
23. Hamada, H., Coppola, J.C., Hull, D., Maekawa, Z. and Sato, H. (1992). Comparison of energy absorption of carbon/E and carbon/PEEK composite tubes. Composites, 23(4): 245–252.
24.
24. Farley, G.L. and Jones, R.M. (1989). Energy absorption capability of composite tubes and beams. NASA TM-101634, AVSCOM TR-89-B-003.
25.
25. Hull, D. (1982). Energy absorption of composite materials under crash conditions. In: Hayashi, T., Kawata, K. and Umekawa, S. (eds.), In: Proceedings of the ICCM 4.Tokyo, Japan. 861–870.
26.
26. Berry, J.P. (1984). Energy absorption and failure mechanisms of axially crushed GRP tubes. PhD Thesis, University of Liverpool, UK.
27.
27. Farley, G.L. (1986). Crash energy absorbing composite sub-floor structure. Presented at the 27th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conference.
28.
28. Farley, G.L. and Jones, R.M. (1992). Crushing characteristics of composite tubes with ‘ nearelliptical’ cross sections. J. Comp. Mater., 26(12): 1741–1751.
29.
29. Thornton, P.H., Harwood, J.J. and Beardmore, P. (1985). Fiber reinforced plastic composites for energy absorption purposes. Comp. Sci. and Tech., 24: 275–298.
30.
30. Dubey, D.D. and Vizzini, J.A. (1998). Energy absorption of composite plates and tubes. J. Comp. Mater., 32: 158–176.
31.
31. Hamada, H., Ramakrishna, S., Maekawa, Z., Nakamura, M. and Nishiwaki, T. (1994). Energy absorption characteristics of composite tubes with different cross sectional shapes. In: Proceedings of the 10th Annual ASM/ESD Advanced Composites Conference. Dearborn, Michigan, USA, 7–10 November. pp. 523–534.
32.
32. Mamalis, A.G., Yuan, Y.B. and Viegelahn, G.L. (1992). Collapse of thin wall composite sections subjected to high speed axial loading. Int. J. of Vehicle Design, 13(5/6): 564–579.
33.
33. Fairfull, A.H. (1986). Scaling effects in the energy absorption of axially crushed composite tubes. PhD Thesis, University of Liverpool, UK.
34.
34. Fairfull, A.H. and Hull, D. (1987). Effects of specimen dimensions on the specific energy absorption of fibre composite tubes. In: Matthews, F.L., Buskell, N.C.R., Hodgkinson, J.M. and Morton, J. (eds.), In: Proceedings of the ICCM 6.Elsevier Science Publishers. pp. 3.36–3.45.
35.
35. Farley, G.L. (1989). Energy absorption capability and scalability of square cross section composite tube specimens. U.S. Army Research and Technology Activity–AVSCOM, pp. 1–17.
36.
36. Ramakrishna, S. and Hamada, H. (1998). Energy absorption characteristic of crash worthy structural composite materials. Key Engineering Materials, 141–143: 585–620.
37.
37. Hanagud, S., Craig, J.I., Sriram, P. and Zhou, W. (1989). Energy absorption behavior of graphite epoxy composite sine webs. J. Comp. Mater., 23: 448–459.
38.
38. Hamada, H., Ramakrishna, S., Maekawa, Z. and Sato, H. (1995). Effect of cooling rate on the energy absorption capability of carbon fibre/PEEK composite tubes. J. Poly. and Poly Comp., 3(2): 99–104.
39.
39. Ramakrishna, S. and Hull, D. (1993). Energy absorption capability of epoxy composite tubes with knitted carbon fibre fabric reinforcement. Comp. Sci. and Tech., Elsevier Science Publishers Limited. 49: 349–356.
40.
40. Ramakrishna, S. (1995). Energy absorption characteristics of knitted fabric reinforced composite tubes. J. Reinf. Plast. and Comp., 14: 1121–1141.
41.
41. Snowdon, P. and Hull, D. (1984). Energy absorption of SMC under crash conditions. In: Proceedings of the Fiber Reinforced Composites Conference ’ 84.Plastics and Rubber Institute. pp. 5.1–5.10.
42.
42. Thornton, P.H., Tao, W.H. and Robertson, R.E. (1991). Crash energy management: axial crush of unidirectional fiber composite rods. Advanced Composite Materials: New Development and Applications Conference Proceedings. Detroit, Michigan, USA. 30 September–3 October. pp. 489–496.
43.
43. Bannerman, D.C. and Kindervater, C.M. (1984). Crash energy absorption properties of composite structural elements. In: Proceedings of the 4th International SAMPE European Chapter. Bordeaux, France. pp. 155–167.
44.
44. Thornton, P.H. (1990). The crush behavior of pultruded tubes at high strain rate. J. Comp. Mater., 24: 594–615.
45.
45. Farley, G.L. (1991). The effects of crushing speed on the energy absorption capability of composite tubes. J. Comp. Mater., 25: 1314–1329.
46.
46. Kindervater, C.M. (1983). Energy absorbing qualities of fiber reinforced plastic tubes. National Specialists Meeting. Composite Structures of the American Helicopter Society. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 23–25 March. pp. 1–14.
47.
47. Botkin, M., Zywicz, E., Simunovic, S., Averill, R., Plaskacz, E., Lo, D., Benner, J. and Kay, G. (1997). Computational analysis of composite structures for crashworthiness. Annual Automotive Technology Development Customers’ Coordination Meeting. Advanced Automotive Technologies. Vol. 1, 27–30 October.
48.
48. Ramakrishna, S. (1992). Knitted fabric reinforced polymer composites. PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge, UK.
49.
49. Ramakrishna, S., Hamada, H. and Hull, D. (1995). Impact and dynamic fracture of polymers and composites. ESIS19. In: Williams, J.G. and Pavan, A. (eds.), London: Mechanical Engineering Publications, pp. 453–464.
50.
50. Ramakrishna, S. and Hull, D. (1990). Energy absorption in knitted fabric reinforced polymer matrix composites. In: Dattaguru, B. (ed.), In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Structural Testing, Analysis and Design. Bangalore, India. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill, pp. 69–74.
51.
51. Hamada, H., Nakai, A. and Nakatani, T. (1996). Energy absorption properties of braided Ibeam workshop. In: Proceedings of the First Canada–Japan Seminar on Composite Materials. Kyoto. pp. 44.1–44.4.
52.
52. Farley, G.L. and Jones, R.M. (1992). Crushing characteristics of continuous fiber reinforcedcomposite tubes. J. Comp. Mater., 26: 37–50.
