Numerical and experimental study of energy absorption of laminated aluminum-composite conical frustum structures under axial loading

Passive safety is the most important part of protecting the lives of occupants in accidents and collisions when it comes to vehicle safety. The crash box is one of the most basic passive safety components in the vehicle and is expected to be able to absorb kinetic energy in longitudinal crashes in order to minimize occupant injury in safe areas. Despite the use of a variety of geometric shapes and materials in the construction of crash boxes, conical structures and aluminum have attracted much attention. In this study, aluminum and aluminum-composite conical structures were investigated. Under quasi-static loading, experimental experiments and numerical simulations showed that, the addition of composite to aluminum structures could triple the specific energy absorption of the structure on average. And the use of 0 and 90 directions of glass-epoxy fibers advances the process of structural destruction step by step and cross-sectional and covers defects in the construction of aluminum structures . The result is that the folds are regular and close together, which has positive effects on specific energy absorption, mean force, and stroke efficiency of the structure.