Experimental study on crashworthiness and failure mechanisms of aeronautical multi-fibers hybrid composite corrugated structures with Carbon, Glass, Kevlar

Abstract

Crashworthiness of aeronautical composite structures can be effectively regulated and controlled by fiber hybridization design, because the structural failure modes are highly sensitive to hybrid parameters. However, the complex failure mechanism is still unclear, resulting in the inability to optimize the fiber hybridization. Hence, this study focuses on crashworthiness and failure mechanisms of aeronautical multi-fiber hybrid composite corrugated structures consisting of carbon, glass, and Kevlar fiber. The composite corrugated structures with single-fiber, double-fiber hybridization and triple-fibers hybridization are prepared by hand lay-up process. The quasi-static axial crushing tests are conducted to evaluate the crashworthiness and failure modes. The experimental results show both the crashworthiness and failure modes are very sensitive to fiber hybridizations with different fiber type and stacking sequence. Both double-fiber hybridization and triple-fibers hybridization can obtain high comprehensive properties including specific properties and cost effectiveness. However, Kevlar fibers placed in inner layers or alternately stacked with other fibers are vulnerable to the buckling-dominated failure mode that is detrimental to energy-absorption. The typical failure mechanisms of proposed hybrid composite corrugated structure are extensively revealed through the corresponding mechanism models. Overall, this study on disclosing complex failure mechanism can guide the optimization of fiber hybridization to improve crashworthiness of hybrid fiber composite corrugated structures.