Lateral Collapse of Woven-Fabric Composite Tubes under Quasi-Static and Impact Loads

An experimental investigation on the lateral collapse behaviour of woven fabric glass/epoxy composite tubes under quasi-static and impact loads are presented here. Composite tubes of different diameter to thickness ratios (D/t = 5.33 - 20.67) were compressed between two flat platens or by a short width square indenter. Impact tests were performed at the gravity drop hammer test setup. The fracture process and the energy absorption capability of the composite tubes under quasi-static and impact loads were studied. It was observed that, the lateral collapse mechanism of thick composite tubes (D/t < 10) was different from thinner tubes (D/t > 10). Finally, the progressive failure analysis of the composite tube was performed in finite element software ABAQUS. Good agreement was observed between the experimental results and numerical predictions.