Dynamic Buckling of Laminated Composite Bars Subjected to Axial Impact

The impact buckling of a laminated composite bar is investigated in case of one of its ends moving due to axial impact compression. The governing equations considering the first- order shear deformation effect are derived by the Hamilton principle and solved by the finite difference method. The critical axial shortness is determined by the B - R cirterion. The given example is used to highlight the influences of initial imperfection, impact velocity, stress wave and coupled stiffness. It is found that the unsymmetrically laminated bar has a quite different dynamic buckling behaviour from that of the symmetrically laminated bar.

Crashworthiness optimization design of foam-filled tapered decagonal structures subjected to axial and oblique impacts

In this research,crashworthiness of polyurethane foam-filled tapered decagonal structures with different ratios of a/b=0,0.25,0.5,0.75 and 1 was evaluated under axial and oblique impacts.These new designed structures contained inner and outer tapered tubes,and four stiffening plates connected them together.The parameter a/b corresponds to the inner tube side length to the outer tube one.In addition,the space between the inner and outer tubes was filled with polyurethane foam.After validating the finite element model generated in LS-DYNA using the results of experimental tests,crashworthiness indicators of SEA(specific energy absorption)and Fmax(peak crushing force)were obtained for the studied structures.Based on the TOPSIS calculations,the semi-foam filled decagonal structure with the ratio of a/b=0.5 demonstrated the best crashworthiness capability among the studied ratios of a/b.Finally,optimum thicknesses(t1(thickness of the outer tube),t2(thickness of the inner tube),t3(thickness of the stiffening plates))of the selected decagonal structure were obtained by adopting RBF(radial basis function)neural network and genetic algorithm.

OBSERVATIONS ON DEFORMATION BEHAVIOR OF HIGH PERFORMANCE FIBERS BY POLARIZING OPTICAL MICROSCOPY

By means of polarizing optical microscopy (POM), deformation behavior of four kinds of fibers, i.e, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) fiber, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber, and wholly aromatic (rho-hydroxybenzoic acid/2-hydroxy-6-naphthoic acid) copolyester [P(HBA/HNA)]/PET (ACPET blend) fiber, in axial compression, axial impacting, and bending was observed. In compression, kink bands formed at an angle of 55-60 degrees ro the fiber axis in 10-times-drawn UHMW-PE fiber, 75-80 degrees in 40-times-drawn sample, 80 degrees in PVA fiber, and 90 degrees in the ACPET blend fiber. In impacting and bending, band angles of UHMW-PE, PVA and PET fibers are nearly the same as those formed in compression, indicating that slip systems do not change. For any of the four kinds of fiber, band spacing exhibits great differences in compression, in impacting, and in bending, which may be attributed to the differences in the degrees of strain or stress concentration.

Crashworthiness analysis of a cylindrical auxetic structure under axial impact loading

Structures with negative Poisson’s ratio(NPR) have been widely used in engineering application due to its unusual properties. In this paper, crashworthiness of a novel cylindrical auxetic structure under axial impact loading is investigated by the numerical methods. The software LS-DYNA is adopted to analyze the effects of the geometry parameters on the force, energy absorption(EA) and specific energy absorption(SEA). It is found that an overlarge number of layers and cells will make NPR structure extend outward from the mid;NPR structures with small number of layers and cells will make some layers of structures rotate in final crushing state. If the thickness of the long-inclined bean(L-beam) is larger than that of short-inclined beam(S-beam), there will be a smoother transition from the lower to a higher value in crushing force. Conversely, the force will maintain a relatively steady value, which determined by the sum of the thickness of L-and S-beams. In addition, there is also a critical inner circle radius which distinguishes different deformation modes. Once the critical inner circle radius is smaller than the critical value,NPR structures tend to deform unsteadily.

Innovative Thin-Walled Structure with Transverse Negative Poisson’s Ratio for High-Performance Crashworthiness

In this paper,an innovative type of thin-walled structures,the convex-concave honeycomb columns(CCHCs)with transverse negative Poisson’s ratio(NPR),is proposed for energy absorbers by replacing the cell walls of square honeycomb lattice columns with sine-shaped or zigzag-shaped walls of equal mass.Numerical simulations show that,under axial impact,contrary to the conventional square honeycomb columns of equal mass,the transverse cross section of NPR CCHC shrinks inward,making the cell walls of CCHC contact and interact sufficiently with each other and thus dissipate the impact energy much more effectively.By suitably adjusting the transverse NPR,the CCHC can have the combined advantages of effective total energy absorption,high specific energy absorption and low maximum peak crushing force.The research of this paper provides a new strategy for the design of high-performance energy absorbers widely used in the engineering fields of vehicle engineering,aerospace engineering etc.