Paper number 243

ENERGY-ABSORBING CAPACITY OF CELLULAR TEXTILE COMPOSITES: MODELING AND OPTIMIZATION

T.X. Yu¹, P. Xue¹ and X.M. Tao²

1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong University
of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
2Institute of Textile and Clothing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Summary

In our previous studies a new type of cellular textile composites was developed and it demonstrated high specific energy-absorbing capacity. In the cellular structure, each cell contained a hemispherical shell connected to a truncated conical wall (Configuration 1). A theoretical model is proposed to quantify the contributions to energy dissipation from different deformation stages. Theoretical and experimental results show that large plastic deformation of the truncated conical shell contributes most to the total energy absorption. Therefore, a new cell configuration is proposed, in which each cell is a truncated conical shell only (Configuration 2). In comparison with Configuration 1, the grid-domed textile composite with Configuration 2 displays a higher energy-absorbing capacity, lower peak force and almost constant force magnitude during its large deformation process. The effects of the cell height, the diameter ratio of cell-top to cell-bottom and the resin added-on percentage on the energy-absorbing capacity are also investigated.

Keywords

energy, absorption, textile, cellular.