Crush characteristics of flat-plate discontinuous carbon composites

Energy absorption capability of carbon/epoxy composite laminates: A novel numerical approach

“…This fixture is convenient to achieve complete crush of whole specimen but has a drawback of creating extra friction between the specimen and knife edges which may lead to calculate the energy absorption capability inaccurately. Same problem is valid for the studies of Lausch et al 11,17 in which full lateral support is used that constrained flat plate specimens in each edge except upper side. Since the specimen is fully constrained during the deformation, in addition to expected failure modes, extensive ruptures occurred around the vertical support which changes the levels of absorbed energy dramatically.…”

“…In recent years, the interest in flat composite coupon tests is increasing since they have great advantage of predicting the specific energy absorption (SEA) due to being easily manufactured that leads repeatable processes and test results with low margin of error and cost. [7][8][9][10][11][12] Considering the numerous studies carried out on complex geometries (tubes, cones and beams), [13][14][15] the results from different studies are not suitable for comparison of material or lay-up performances since geometry has also significant influence on the energy absorption capability of composite structures. Flat shaped composites, on the other hand, may provide a standardization so that the SEA can be easily obtained and compared for composite plates with different lay-ups and different mechanical characteristics.…”