Crashworthiness characteristics investigation of silk/epoxy composite square tubes

This research concentrates on the evaluation of crashworthiness characteristics of natural silk/epoxy composite square tubes energy-absorbers. Composite laminate specimens were subjected to static axial compression load and experimental evaluation of the energy absorption capability of silk/epoxy composite. Specimens were in the form of square cross-sections with the dimension of 80 mm × 80 mm and a radius curvature of 5 mm. The variables in the experiment were the length of the tubes built 50 mm, 80 mm and 120 mm. Meanwhile, the thickness of the walls, consisting of laminates of silk/epoxy of 12, 24 and 30 plies, correspond to equivalent wall thickness of 1.7 mm, 3.4 mm and 4.2 mm, respectively. The parameters measured were the total absorbed energy (Etotal), and the crash force efficiency (CFE). Etotal is the measure of the amount of energy that the structure can withstand without failure and thus is a measure of its strength, while CFE gives a quantitative indication of the mode of failure of the composites. The mode of failure was observed using photography.