The impact of graphene filler on the energy absorption of hybrid composite crash boxes

One of the safety components found in vehicles is crash boxes mounted on vehicle chassis. These boxes, when mounted on the vehicle chassis, are intended to preserve the integrity of vehicle and ensure safety of passengers inside during crashs. Since these crash boxes are generally made of metal, efforts are made to reduce the additional weight on vehicles. Therefore, like many other parts in vehicles, there is a tendency to move towards the use of composite materials in crash boxes. In our study, crash boxes with hybridization achieved by altering the winding sequences of glass, aramid, and carbon fibers, with addition of graphene, were experimentally compared in terms of maximum peak forces, energy absorption, and specific energy absorption. Samples were produced with 0.25% graphene addition, with glass fiber G0.25 g, aramid fiber A0.25 g, and carbon fiber C0.25 g, and in hybridization, winding sequences were internally aramid-carbon-glass ACG0.25 g, carbon-glass-aramid CGA0.25 g, and glass-aramid-carbon GAC0.25 g. Similarly, samples labeled G0.50 g-GAC0.50 g were produced with 0.50% graphene addition. As a result, the best maximum peak force and specific energy absorption were achieved with the 0.50% graphene-added C0.50 g, at 8.52 kN and 10.08 J/g respectively. While the best energy absorption was with C0.25 g at 228.25 J, the worst was with glass fiber G0.25 g at 21.78 J. The addition of graphene to A0.25 g and A0.50 g, namely the aramid fiber samples, significantly increased their values by forming a good structure.