Investigation of the crashworthiness performance of corrugated plates with different fiber architectures

This Master’s thesis presents an experimental investigation into the crashworthiness performance of an innovative tri-axial braided carbon fiber reinforced composite (CFRC) corrugated plate under dynamic crush loading. The study compares the use of braided carbon fiber fabric with unidirectional plies arranged in a quasi-isotropic lamination. Both material types are also compared across two different corrugated plate section shapes and cruching strain rates. The specimens were produced through an infusion process, with preliminary studies conducted on the lamination procedure to standardize the process and ensure specimens with comparable characteristics. For each test configuration, Specific Energy Absorption (SEA), peak load, steady-state crushing load, and Crushing Efficiency (CE) were measured and compared between specimens of different shapes, laminations and strain rates.