On energy absorption of the light-weight curved composite panel used in vehicle's roof

Abstract

In this study, the dynamic stability and energy absorption of a novel type of sandwich panels with an extensive application in light vehicles are investigated. The curved panels are laminated multi-scale hybrid nanocomposites reinforced with carbon nanotubes. The whole panel is on a non-polynomial viscoelastic substrate to control the stability of the panel following vibrations. The 3D elasticity model is utilized for analyzing dynamic behavior and energy absorption. Moreover, a non-polynomial viscoelastic model is employed to take the effect of the viscoelastic substrate into account. The equivalent bulk properties of the nanocomposite are obtained using micromechanics and Halpin–Tsai relations. The nano-reinforcements are considered to have even distribution and random orientations in the epoxy matrix. The effects of material and loading conditions including viscoelastic parameters, compressibility, fiber’s volume and weight fractions, damping factor, and initial axially stress on the dynamic stability of the curved panels are evaluated. The most important outcome of this paper is that the change in parameters has a significant effect on dependency of energy absorption on radial stress. In application, the results suggest decreasing compressibility leads to increasing energy absorption of the shell structure.