Experimental and numerical study on axial impact loading of pultruded composite tubes

The application of fibre reinforced composites has been increasing in the area of impact and blast loading of structures. The major advantages of these materials over metals are higher specific energy absorption, more economical, low weight and less maintenance. In this work, an attempt is made to study the energy absorption characteristics of unidirectional pultruded composite tubes. Two different cross sections (circular and square) were used for the study. To absorb more energy during the impact or blast loading the composite tubes have to deform progressively. To induce the progressive deformation of composite tubes two different types of triggering mechanisms were used. The energy absorption of each tube was studied experimentally. A new approach was adopted using cohesive elements for the numerical assessment of the energy absorbing capability of composite tubes. Finally the experimental and numerical results were compared