A study on crushing behaviors of composite circular tubes with different reinforcing fibers

In this study, the failure modes and energy absorption capabilities of different kinds of circular tubes made of carbon, Kevlar, and carbon–Kevlar hybrid fibers composites with epoxy resin have been evaluated. The relationship between the crushing parameters (specific energy absorption, maximum peak load, mean crushing load) and the material properties for different fibers and patterns was also investigated. The fabric carbon/epoxy tubes had the best energy absorption capability (specific energy absorption of 81.7%). In contrast, the tubes made of Kevlar showed the worst energy absorption capability. Based on the linear regression analysis results, the crushing parameters generally showed good correlation with the compressive strength and shear modulus. In particular, the specific energy absorption of the tubes with the brittle fracture mode revealed the strongest correlation with the compressive strength (R-square value = 0.90).