• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.590-596
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• 2009

In this study, the failure modes and energy absorption characteristics of four different kinds of circular tubes made of carbon, glass, Kevlar and carbon-Kevlar hybrid fibres composites with epoxy resin have been evaluated. To achieve these goals, compressive tests were conducted for the tubes under 10mm/min loading speed. Based on the test results, the carbon/epoxy tube showed the best energy absorption capability, while carbon-Kevlar/epoxy tubes were worst. In the failure mode during crushing, both of the carbon/epoxy tubes and the glass/epoxy tubes were crushed by brittle fracturing mode. The Kevlar/epoxy tubes were collapsed by local buckling mode like steel, while the carbon-Kevlar hybrid tubes were collapsed by mixed mode of local buckling and lamina bending.