Investigating the mechanical properties and crashworthiness of hybrid PLA/GFRP composites fabricated using...

The failure and crashworthiness performance of hybrid Polylactide (PLA)/Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) composite tubes subjected to axial and radial quasistatic compression loads were investigated in the present study. The composite tubes are fabricated using hand lay-up and Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)-filament winding processes. The crashworthiness performance was studied using parameters such as the peak load, energy absorption, crush load, crushing load efficiency, and specific energy absorption. The highest peak loads from the compression test results in the axial and radial directions are calculated using variations in the filament winding PLA/GFRP (FPG) specimen, whose values were 16130.50 N and 12077.33 N, respectively. The highest mean crush load is found in the material variation with the FPG specimen, which is 5734.43 J/mm for axial loading and 4886.75 J/mm for radial loading. The highest energy absorption (EA) value is found in the material variation with the FPG specimen, which is 262.18 J for axial direction loading and 94.02 J for radial direction loading. The highest specific energy absorption (SEA) value is found in the material variation with the specimen Filament Winding PLA/GFRP, which is 16.92 J/g for axial loading and 10.98 J/g for radial loading. There are three main types of failure of the composite: matrix cracking, fiber damage, and folding. The study showed that by combining Additive Manufacturing and composite lamination, the hybrid PLA/GFRP specimen outperformed the existing structures.