| Summary: | Foam-filled enclosures are very common in structural crashworthiness to increase energy
absorption. However, very less research has been targeted on potential use of natural/recycled
material reinforced foam-filled tubes. Therefore, an experimental investigation was performed to
quantify energy absorption capacity of polyurethane (PU) composite foam-filled circular steel tubes
under quasi-static axial loading. The thickness of the tubes was varied from 1.9, 2.9 and 3.6 mm.
The tubes were filled with PU composite foam. The PU composite foam was processed with
addition of kenaf plant fiber and recycled rubber particles that were refined at 80 mesh particulates
into PU system. The density of PU resin was varied from 100, 200 and 300 kgm-3
. The PU
composite foam-filled tubes were crushed axially at constant speed in a universal testing machine
and their energy absorption was characterized from the resulting load-deflection data. Results
indicate that PU composite foam-filled tubes exhibited better energy absorption capacity than those
PU foam-filled tubes and its respective empty tubes. Interaction effect between the tube and the
foam and incorporation of filler into PU system led to an increase in mean crushing load compared
to that of the unfilled PU foam or tube itself. Relatively, progressively collapse modes were
observed for all tested tubes. Findings suggested that composite foam-filled tubes could be used as
crashworthy member.
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