Study on Expansion Tearing Energy Absorption Characteristics of Carbon Fiber Composite Tearing Tube

doi:10.3901/JME.260115

Abstract

Abstract: In order to improve the axial load-bearing stability of composite energy-absorbing columns and enhance their material utilization, a novel pre-opened-seam carbon fiber reinforced plastic(CFRP) tear tube is proposed in this paper. Experimental and numerical analyses are carried out to fully investigate the axial tearing failure behavior and energy absorption of the CFRP tear pipe with different numbers of pre-opened seams, thicknesses and diameters, and the experimental results verify the accuracy of the numerical model and reveal the axial tearing energy absorption mechanism. The numerical study of the failure behavior and energy absorption of the torn pipe shows that the number of preopening slits affects the stress concentration distribution of the torn pipe, and as the number of preopening slits increases, the number of crack initiation more than the number of preopening slits gradually decreases and produces inhomogeneous tear flaps at preopening slits of up to 12, which results in a decrease in the load-bearing stability of the CFRP by about 50%. The increase in thickness promotes progressive tearing of CFRP tubes in layers, which increases the load-bearing stability of the torn tube by about 60% when the thickness increases from 1 mm to 3 mm. Pipe diameter influenced the spreading and crushing failure of the CFRP pipe during tearing, and the reduction in pipe diameter from 80 mm to 30 mm promoted spreading failure, which resulted in an increase in the specific energy absorption of the CFRP tear pipe by about 64%. Finally, the parameter combination of 6 pre-opened slits, 1.5 mm thickness, and 30 mm outer diameter provides the best stability and energy absorption of CFRP tubes, and the results also provide a new way of thinking for the design of thin-walled composite components with high stability and energy absorption.

Key words: carbon fiber composites, energy absorption, trigger mechanism, tearing failure

CLC Number:

KONG Haoyue, ZHANG Yong, HONG Yiyuan, ZHANG Zhixiong, LUO Guina. Study on Expansion Tearing Energy Absorption Characteristics of Carbon Fiber Composite Tearing Tube[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2026, 62(4): 168-179.

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