Finite element modelling and failure behaviour analysis of Carbon Fibre-reinforced Plastic thin-walled tube with cutouts under quasi-static loading

Due to cutouts that may lead to failure during the application process of CFRP, the study of impact performance and failure analysis can understand the failure mechanism, which can guide the design optimization of cutouts and realize the significant performance improvement of composite materials. This paper uses the finite element modelling method to simulate the failure behaviour of the carbon fibre-reinforced plastic thin-wall tubes. Two laminate stacking angles are used to investigate the effect of stacking angle on CFRP tubes under quasi-static loading. The effect of the cutouts, distribution and diameter size of the cutouts on the mises stress nephogram is investigated. It was obtained that as the stacking angle increased, the axial stiffness of the tube decreased, which reduced the initial peak load. For the effect of cutout distribution, the maximum stress appeared around the edge of cutout, which regularly showed at the end edge of the tube. It was shown that the cutout size was one of the essential factors on thin-walled CFRP tubes under quasi-static loading. The study deals with the buckling behaviour of thin-walled CFRP tubes with cutouts. Through finite element analysis, the conclusions of this study can be used to guide the cutouts of CFRP thin-walled tubes in different ways and provide conditions for the mechanical connection between CFRP thin-walled tubes.