Crashworthiness response of natural silk-fibre glass hybrid reinforced epoxy cylindrical composite tubes under quasi-static load

This study investigated the failure behaviour, energy absorption response and load carrying capability of fibre-glass (FG)/natural silk fibre (NS)/epoxy hybrid composite cylindrical tubes subjected to an axial quasi-static compression test. The reinforced cylindrical composite tubes were prepared using mandrel assisted hand lay-up technique. The specimen tested were three (3) fibre-glass cylindrical tube, each consisting of 5 layers of (FG); three (3) natural-silk fibre cylindrical tubes, each consisting of 15 layers NS-fibre and FG/NS/epoxy hybrid cylindrical tubes, each consisting of 3 layers of FG, 9 layers of NS-fibres. The height of each tube was 50 mm; the thickness was 10 mm and the internal diameter was 65 mm. The energy absorption and load carrying ability of the tubes were analyzed by measuring specific energy absorption, maximum peak load (P-m(ax)) and total energy absorption (TE) as a function of diverse fibre fraction under compressive loading. Failure mechanism of the tubes was analyzed from high resolution photographs obtained during test. As expected, FG/NS/epoxy hybrid tubes performed better in load carriability and energy attenuation while NS tubes performed better in progressive crushing failure behaviour. Deformation morphology suggests micro to macro cracks, tear propagation, delamination and collapse.