Energy absorption and failure response of silk/epoxy composite square tubes: Experimental

This paper focuses on natural silk/epoxy composite square tubes energy absorption and failure response. The tested specimens were featured by a material combination of different lengths and same numbers of natural silk/epoxy composite layers in form of reinforced woven fabric in thermosetting epoxy resin. Tubes were compressed in INSTRON 5567 with a loading capacity of 30 kN. This research investigates the influence of the wall lengths on the compressive response and also failure mode of the tested tubes are analysed. The load-displacement behaviour of square tubes recorded during the test. Since natural woven silk has been used as textile in centuries but due to rare study of this fabric as reinforcement material for composites, the results of this paper can be considerable. Outcomes from this paper might be helpful to guide the design of crashworthy structures. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.