Experimental investigation behavior of hollow cylindrical composite tubes under axial compression

Abstract

In this study, the axial compressive stresses of hollow circular composite tubes were investigated. For this purpose, hollow circular composite tubes with various inner diameters (Ø12 and Ø13 millimeters), a height of 80 millimeters, and an outer diameter kept constant at Ø17 millimeters were fabricated using a fiber winding process. In the production of hollow circular tubes, epoxy was used as resin, and glass fiber, carbon fiber, and Kevlar fiber were used as reinforcement materials. Experimental investigations were carried out for three different reinforcement materials, two thin-wall thicknesses, and five orientation angles. Axial compression tests were performed to research the influences of reinforcement materials, thin-wall thickness, and orientation angles on the compressive stresses. The axial compressive strength of the samples was observed experimentally by applying the load in the vertical direction. The reinforcement material, orientation angle, and thin-walled thickness had an important influence on the axial compressive stress. The glass/epoxy reinforcement material was found to have the highest axial compressive strength at 204 Mpa. When the orientation angle increased from 45° to 88°, the axial compressive stress increased by 2.27 times in glass/epoxy, 2.36 times in carbon/epoxy, and 2.37 times in Kevlar/epoxy specimens, respectively. In addition, by increasing the specimen wall thickness by 0.5 millimeters, the axial compressive stress at an 88° orientation angle increased by 9.67 % glass/epoxy, 11.85 % carbon/epoxy, and 7.14 % Kevlar/epoxy specimens.