Axial impact behavior and energy absorption efficiency of composite wrapped metal tubes

Axial impact crushing behavior and energy absorption efficiency of glass/ep oxy composite externally wrapped circular metal tubes have been studied in this paper. Predicted instantaneous velocity and displacement formulae are presented and compared with experimental results. Four typical collapse mod es are identified, and effects that contribute to the energy absorption cap ability, such as strain rate, composite wall thickness, fiber ply orientati on, and mechanical properties of metals, are studied. By including the infl uence of the material strain rate effects on metals, the simplified analyti cal model proposed by Hanefi and Wierzbicki has been extended to impact loa dings. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.