Crush characteristics of flat-plate discontinuous carbon composites

This study presents an investigation of the effect of fiber length, fiber mass content, in-plane fiber distribution, plate thickness, and loading rate on the energy absorption mechanism of discontinuous carbon fiber composite flat-plate specimens utilizing the crush property isolation technique. Similar crushing morphology is obtained for flat-plate testing as for discontinuous carbon fiber tubes. Fiber length and fiber mass content showed only a minor effect on the specific energy absorption (SEA). Results obtained for the in-plane fiber distribution showed to be consistent. SEA-values increased substantially with increased plate thickness. Loading rate dependency could be observed as a decrease in SEA when increasing plate thickness.