Crashing Behavior of Braided Composites

Abstract

FRP exhibits not only the excellent strength to weight than conventional metallic materials, but also high energy absorption properties. Therefore FRP would be applied to structural components for various vehicles recently. Particularly, braided composites are expected to utilize for safety components, because they show the fracture mode called progressive crushing, which proceeds under constant load. Energy absorption with progressive crushing was generated by combination of fiber fracture, delamination, crack, etc. In this paper, the crushing properties, especially fracture mechanisms of FRP rods were investigated. To discuss the fracture morphology, microscopic observations were examined.