Trigger mechanisms of progressive crushing – energy absorption in flat plate fiber-reinforced composites.

Abstract

A study has been made of flat plate chamfer-based, crush trigger mechanisms subjected to axial compression, for use with energy-absorbing Fiber reinforced composites. This paper will focus on the trigger mechanisms in flat panels made of Newport Nb321/7781 fiber composites. Progressive crushing can often be induced by initiating or triggering fracture at one end of the plate. Crushing initiates in the highly stressed region at the tip of the chamfer and this develops into a stable crush zone. The sequence of crushing events depends on the type of chamfer and chamfer angle. The test panels would be subjected to low and high speed compression testing. We would like to validate the best optimized model for trigger mechanisms using FEA, with the experimental results.