Comparative research on the crashworthiness characteristics of woven natural silk/epoxy composite tubes

This study investigated the energy absorption response of triggered and non-triggered woven natural silk/epoxy composite rectangular tubes subjected to an axial quasi-static crushing test. The rectangular composite tubes were prepared by the hand lay-up technique using 12 layers of silk fabric with a thickness of 1.7 mm and tube lengths of 50, 80, and 120 mm. The parameters measured were peak load, energy absorption, and specific energy absorption (SEA). In both triggered and non-triggered tubes, the SEA values decreased with increasing length of the composite specimen. On the contrary, total energy absorption increased with increasing length of the composite specimen. The peak load in triggered specimens is nearly half of that in non-triggered specimens. Deformation morphology shows that the specimens failed in two distinct modes: local buckling and mid-length buckling. The non-triggered composite tubes exhibited catastrophic failure, whereas the triggered composite tubes only exhibited progressive failure. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.