Impact energy absorption and failure analysis of basalt-/glass-fiber-reinforced cylindrical hybrid composites

Global challenges hazardous to humanity such as pollution can be minimized by the use of reinforced natural fibers to produce cost-effective, lightweight polymer composites. Polymer composites reinforced with glass and basalt fibers have outstanding mechanical, chemical, and thermal characteristics. Owing to their distinct characteristics, these composites find extensive application in a range of industrial settings. This work discusses the energy absorption characteristics of hybrid composite cylinders made of polyester resin and basalt and glass fiber lamina under quasi-static axial compression loading. The required dimensions of hybrid cylindrical specimens of nine different height-to-diameter ratios were fabricated through the hand layup technique. Axial compression was applied to the test specimens at a rate of 2 mm/min. From the experiments, the load-deformation curve, maximum load, compression strength, energy absorption, and crushing efficiency were calculated. In addition, the mode of thin-walled cylindrical shells' collapse and crushing behavior were identified and examined. The collapse was always perpendicular to the loading direction. Specimen CY1510 showed a higher energy absorption of 169.14 J, maximum load of 57.42 KN, compression strength of 54.39 N/mm2, and crushing efficiency of 93.1%. It also showed the maximum load-carrying capacity, 19.49% higher energy absorption, and 25.79% higher specific energy absorption compared with comparable hybrid composites. A comparison of energy absorption properties and the mechanism of collapse of several test specimen types was made. The h/d ratio was found to affect the energy absorption of hollow cylindrical hybrid composites. These outcomes will contribute to increasing these hybrid composites' dependability and impact performance.