Experimental study of CFRP components subjected to dynamic crash loads

This paper deals with experimental investigations on the dynamic failure behaviour of generic carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) components subjected to axial crushing, which have been developed for energy absorption in a transport aircraft structure. Several material and design parameters of the crash component as well as its interaction with the adjacent fuselage structure were investigated. A specific test setup was developed to test under conditions similar to realistic crash loads in a fuselage structure. Besides a dynamic loading of v = 6.7 m/s in axial crushing direction, a higher loading rate of v = 10 m/s as well as off-axis loading conditions with an impact angle of β = 10° were considered. A total of 72 dynamic component tests were performed resulting in different failure modes and force–displacement characteristics. The parameter influences were analysed on the basis of the observed structural and material failure modes, measured force–displacement characteristics as well as crash performance parameters (e.g. mass-specific energy absorption).