Crushing Energy Absorption Capacity of Braided Glass Fiber Composite Rods with Applications in Lightweight Panel Structures

ガラス繊維組物複合材料ロッドにおける粉砕エネルギー吸収能力および軽量化パネル構造への適用について

2020-03-25

2020-03-25

Fiber-reinforced polymer composites, owing to their high specific mechanical properties and design flexibility, are becoming increasingly attractive for replacing conventional steel parts in automotive structures to reduce weight and resulting carbon footprint while ensuring that crashworthiness requirements are not compromised. In certain applications such as in competitive motorsport rally, lightweight reinforced panels that can easily be replaced in certain locations such as door sections for side impact protection, are also being considered. Such a concept is the focus of this thesis, and an investigation of the quasi-static crushing behavior of braided composite rods manufactured using a tubular braiding method as a reinforcement in lightweight panels is performed in a series of studies. First, compression tests are performed on single- and two-layer cardboard panels reinforced with varying number of braided GFRP rods consisting of glass fibers in the axial and braided regions. The cardboard constrains the rods from excessive splaying, causing greater levels of fiber fragmentation resulting in higher specific energy absorption (SEA) compared with rods without cardboard. Single-layer panels with shorter rods also perform better than two-layer panels with longer rods due to effects of cardboard shifting. Second, the crushing properties of stacked aluminum-cardboard panels reinforced with the same GFRP rods are tested to explore methods of increasing panel thickness efficiently. One aluminum support in between panel layers ensures the exerted load is transferred uniformly to all adjacent rods. Cardboard panels reinforced with hybrid-columnar-aluminum-tube-GFRP-rods are then tested. Due to interactions of the aluminum on the crushing behavior of the rods, the SEA of the hybrid structures is further improved. Lastly, braided glass fiber/axial carbon fiber rods and panels made from polystyrene foams are evaluated. These rods show even higher SEA than braided/axial GFRP rods, and despite slightly reduced crushing loads with all reinforcement types, polystyrene foam allows for increased crushing displacement compared to cardboard for a given panel thickness due to greater compressibility.

博士(学術)

京都工芸繊維大学

14303甲第965号

http://hdl.handle.net/10212/2575

eng

ETD

23

Thesis or Dissertation

Thesis