Title: Design of a composite crash box for a Formula Student team car: preliminary testing and model tuning

Authors: André Miguel Almeida Santos; Aurélio Lima Araújo; J.F.A. Madeira; Hernâni Miguel Reis Lopes

Addresses: IDMEC, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal ' IDMEC, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal ' IDMEC, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal; Department of Mathematics, ISEL, IPL, R. Conselheiro Emídio Navarro 1, 1959-007 Lisboa, Portugal ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) – Polytechnic Institute of Porto, R. Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal

Abstract: In this work, preliminary studies towards the development of a structural carbon fibre nose for a Formula Student team car are presented. Numerical and experimental approaches have been considered to evaluate the impact behaviour of composite tubes. Then, finite element simulations are used to determine the crush stress by fitting the numerical results to the experimental data. The crush stress is also validated using quasi-static compression tests. The obtained results are compared and discussed in the framework of the future structural nose and crashbox design.

Keywords: crash box; impact simulation; experimental tests; high-speed imaging; composite tube.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAUTOC.2017.091419

International Journal of Automotive Composites, 2017 Vol.3 No.2/3/4, pp.237 - 250

Received: 10 Feb 2017
Accepted: 10 Oct 2017
Published online: 30 Apr 2018 *

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