Composite materials have excellent mechanical and thermal properties and are the materials of choice for many applications. Even though, the low inter-laminar mechanical properties and poor impact resistance of fiber reinforced composite materials has limited their use. The study of axial crushing behavior of metal and composite tubes has become an important aspect for the design of crashworthy structures in aircraft and automotive applications. This behavior can be studied using different crushing modes based on different failure criteria. Therefore it is important to have a tool that could simulate the crushing response of the composite tubes under crushing or impact load.
This thesis is aimed at the validation of finite element simulation methods for composite tubes using different failure criteria. The crushing behavior and the effect of post-failure parameters on the composite tubes are studied using a finite element solver, LS-Dyna. Three different composite tubes have been chosen for the finite element analysis, which have been crushed under impact loading conditions. Composite material models, from Dyna library, are assigned for the tubes to analyze which material model correlates with the experimental results. The results indicate that the average crushing force for the numerical and experimental results are same except for the peak force, in load-displacement curves. Also, interface elements are modeled between the shell elements for the composite tubes and conducted analysis using cohesive material model. Besides, conducted simulations to determine the effect of geometric parameter like trigger and post-failure parameters like softening reduction factor, maximum effective strain, SLIM which is the factor to determine residual strength and maximum strain on the composite tubes.
","abstract_html":"<p>Composite materials have excellent mechanical and thermal properties and are the materials of choice for many applications. Even though, the low inter-laminar mechanical properties and poor impact resistance of fiber reinforced composite materials has limited their use. The study of axial crushing behavior of metal and composite tubes has become an important aspect for the design of crashworthy structures in aircraft and automotive applications. This behavior can be studied using different crushing modes based on different failure criteria. Therefore it is important to have a tool that could simulate the crushing response of the composite tubes under crushing or impact load.</p><p>This thesis is aimed at the validation of finite element simulation methods for composite tubes using different failure criteria. The crushing behavior and the effect of post-failure parameters on the composite tubes are studied using a finite element solver, LS-Dyna. Three different composite tubes have been chosen for the finite element analysis, which have been crushed under impact loading conditions. Composite material models, from Dyna library, are assigned for the tubes to analyze which material model correlates with the experimental results. The results indicate that the average crushing force for the numerical and experimental results are same except for the peak force, in load-displacement curves. Also, interface elements are modeled between the shell elements for the composite tubes and conducted analysis using cohesive material model. Besides, conducted simulations to determine the effect of geometric parameter like trigger and post-failure parameters like softening reduction factor, maximum effective strain, SLIM which is the factor to determine residual strength and maximum strain on the composite tubes.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Chatla, Priyanjali"],"institution":"University of Cincinnati","degree_name":"MS","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Engineering and Applied Science: Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Tabiei, Ala"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012","date_published":"2012","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:36:23Z","subjects":["Aerospace Materials","Crashworthiness","Composites","impact loads","LS-Dyna"],"languages":["English"],"rights":["unrestricted","This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1352993298","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Tabiei, Ala"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Chatla, Priyanjali"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2012"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Electronic Thesis or Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Engineering and Applied Science: Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Cincinnati"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Aerospace Materials","Crashworthiness","Composites","impact loads","LS-Dyna"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["unrestricted","This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1352993298"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Composite materials have excellent mechanical and thermal properties and are the materials of choice for many applications. Even though, the low inter-laminar mechanical properties and poor impact resistance of fiber reinforced composite materials has limited their use. The study of axial crushing behavior of metal and composite tubes has become an important aspect for the design of crashworthy structures in aircraft and automotive applications. This behavior can be studied using different crushing modes based on different failure criteria. Therefore it is important to have a tool that could simulate the crushing response of the composite tubes under crushing or impact load.
This thesis is aimed at the validation of finite element simulation methods for composite tubes using different failure criteria. The crushing behavior and the effect of post-failure parameters on the composite tubes are studied using a finite element solver, LS-Dyna. Three different composite tubes have been chosen for the finite element analysis, which have been crushed under impact loading conditions. Composite material models, from Dyna library, are assigned for the tubes to analyze which material model correlates with the experimental results. The results indicate that the average crushing force for the numerical and experimental results are same except for the peak force, in load-displacement curves. Also, interface elements are modeled between the shell elements for the composite tubes and conducted analysis using cohesive material model. Besides, conducted simulations to determine the effect of geometric parameter like trigger and post-failure parameters like softening reduction factor, maximum effective strain, SLIM which is the factor to determine residual strength and maximum strain on the composite tubes.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf","p.100","2.32 MB"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["LS-Dyna for Crashworthiness of Composite Structures"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Tabiei, Ala"],"dc:creator":["Chatla, Priyanjali"],"dc:date":["2012"],"dc:description":["Composite materials have excellent mechanical and thermal properties and are the materials of choice for many applications. Even though, the low inter-laminar mechanical properties and poor impact resistance of fiber reinforced composite materials has limited their use. The study of axial crushing behavior of metal and composite tubes has become an important aspect for the design of crashworthy structures in aircraft and automotive applications. This behavior can be studied using different crushing modes based on different failure criteria. Therefore it is important to have a tool that could simulate the crushing response of the composite tubes under crushing or impact load.
This thesis is aimed at the validation of finite element simulation methods for composite tubes using different failure criteria. The crushing behavior and the effect of post-failure parameters on the composite tubes are studied using a finite element solver, LS-Dyna. Three different composite tubes have been chosen for the finite element analysis, which have been crushed under impact loading conditions. Composite material models, from Dyna library, are assigned for the tubes to analyze which material model correlates with the experimental results. The results indicate that the average crushing force for the numerical and experimental results are same except for the peak force, in load-displacement curves. Also, interface elements are modeled between the shell elements for the composite tubes and conducted analysis using cohesive material model. Besides, conducted simulations to determine the effect of geometric parameter like trigger and post-failure parameters like softening reduction factor, maximum effective strain, SLIM which is the factor to determine residual strength and maximum strain on the composite tubes.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf","p.100","2.32 MB"],"dc:identifier":["http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1352993298"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:publisher":["University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK"],"dc:rights":["unrestricted","This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws."],"dc:subject":["Aerospace Materials","Crashworthiness","Composites","impact loads","LS-Dyna"],"dc:title":["LS-Dyna for Crashworthiness of Composite Structures"],"dc:type":["Electronic Thesis or Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Engineering and Applied Science: Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS"],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Cincinnati"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:36:23Z"}