Effect of taper angle on crashworthiness performance in hybrid tubes

Abstract

The present paper dealt with the finite element analysis (FE) analyzing thetaper angle design of aluminum/E-glass fiber reinforced polymer hybridtubes. This study investigated the crushing characteristics involving peakcrush force (PCF), crush force efficiency (CFE) and specific energyabsorption (SEA) capacity of thirty different configurations of hybridtubes. Three types of geometries were studied numerically, includingcircular, square and hexagonal. The structures evaluated included circularhybrid tubes fabricated with aluminum alloy and composite. The hybridstructures were subjected to axial impact loads using a 750-kg rigidimpactor with an initial velocity of 15 m/s. It was found that thecrashworthiness performance increased with increasing taper angle. TheSEA and CFE values of the circular hybrid tube with a 10° taper angle werehigh in the other square and hexagonal hybrid tubes. That hybrid structurecan preferable as impact energy absorber due to the ability to withstandaxial impact loads effectively.