THE EFFECT OF GROOVING, EXTERNAL, AND INTERNAL GFRP OVERWRAPPED PVC TUBES ON CRASHWORTHINESS CHARACTERISTICS

Several factors that affect the crashworthiness characteristics were investigated using GFRP overwrapped PVC composite tubes. Composite tubes studied alongside the PVC were non-grooved tubes wrapped externally or internally, and the same for the grooved tubes. All tubes underwent a quasi-static axial compression test. All composite samples had a capacity of load-bearing, a capability to absorb energy, and a crushing force efficiency significantly higher than the PVC. The grooved specimen wrapped externally only had the best amount of SEA compared to other tested tubes by an average of 17.5 kJ/kg for pre and post-crushing stages combined. However, its crushing failure was not stable, presenting poor CFE and lowest iCFE among the composite tubes by an average of 43.59%. The advantage of grooving was observed in increasing the initial peak load for the grooved composite tubes, which provided a substantial rise in the capability of absorbing energy in the pre-crushing stage without disturbing the stability of CFE. Meanwhile, the advantage of wrapping externally and internally was enhancing CFE and iCFE. Therefore, the composite tube that combines grooving and wrapping externally and internally got the highest rank in the best performing selection among all the tested tubes