Crashworthiness characteristics of flax fibre reinforced epoxy tubes for energy absorption application

• Crashworthiness characteristics of flax/epoxy composite tubes were investigated.
• Flax/epoxy composite tubes crushed in a brittle manner with a progressive crushing pattern.
• Specific absorbed energy of flax/epoxy tube is high than metal energy absorbers.
• Specific absorbed energy of flax/epoxy tube is close to glass/carbon composites.
• Flax/epoxy composite tube has the potential to be used as energy absorber.

The study reported here entailed an experimental investigation of the crashworthiness characteristics of natural flax fibre reinforced epoxy composite circular tubes from the point of view of energy absorption. The specimens tested under uniaxial compression include three inner diameters (36, 54 and 82 mm), three numbers of plies (1, 2 and 3) and three length-to-diameter ratios (1, 1.5 and 2). A total of 81 hollow tubes were tested (three specimens for each type) and the energy absorption capabilities of the specimens were evaluated. The parameters measured were the maximum crushing load, maximum stress, total absorbed energy, specific absorbed energy and crush force efficiency. The failure modes of the specimens were analysed from photography. Test results indicate that flax fibre reinforced epoxy composite tube has the potential to be used as energy absorber.