The Impact of Test Conditions and Lay-Up Configuration on SEA in Carbon–Epoxy Tubes

This article presents the effect of test velocity and the percentage of unidirectional (UD) and woven (WF) fibers on specific energy absorption (SEA). Composite tubes with an internal diameter of 20 mm were fabricated using five prepreg layers. Progressive crushing of the specimens was performed at speeds of 20 mm/min, 4.48–6.7 m/s, and 21 m/s. Crushing at a speed of 21 m/s has been shown to result in a 59–61% decrease in SEA relative to quasi-static conditions, depending on the specimen architecture. Computed tomography scans are included to show the shape and nature of the fragments after crushing and allow us to conclude that increasing the process velocity increases the average layer thickness after the crushing process, resulting in a reduction in the absorbed energy.