Response of pultruded composite tubes subjected to dynamic and impulsive axial loading

The energy absorption of circular pultruded composite tubes subjected to axial crush load, transmitted by a small attached mass accelerated by means of an explosive load is presented in this paper. Different masses of explosive are used to provide a range of transmitted impulse and crushed distance of the pultruded composite tubes. The influence of the mass of the explosive on the tube response is investigated with regard to crushed distance, the average crushing force and the specific energy absorption (SEA). The crushing distance increases with increasing transmitted impulse. The results and failure mode are also compared with compression tests carried out on a servo-hydraulic machine (type: MTS-309).