A Method for Crash Tests on Laminated Composite Scaled-Down Models

Based on the experimental studies carried out at the University of Valenciennes in close collaboration with ONERA, a study of GFRP profile crashworthiness has been carried out in order to find out a method permitting to scale down this type of structures. The relations obtained from Cauchy's similarity law have been found not to be directly applicable because of distortions due to the type of material used or the type of loading applied. An empirical model has been developed using data originating from experimental static tests in order to bring to the fore these distortions. Changing scale relations have been determined from this model then applied on the experimental data curves. The results obtained display a significant improvement as compared to the ones obtained with Cauchy's similarity law. Taking into account the distortions can permit an optimisation of the experimental conditions as well as the stratified materials stacking sequence. The aim is to limit their influence on the results obtained from scaled-down structures.