David C. Fleming, PhD, Associate Professor, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA
Karen E. Jackson, PhD, Senior Research Engineer, National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, VA, USA and NASA Langley Research Center, Langley, VA, USA

• Presents fundamentals of impact forces on materials and test subjects
• Offers principles for the design and improvement of crashworthy composites
• Full-scale testing protocols and data, plus modeling strategies
• Outlines construction and safety standards for aircraft components

This text investigates the variables needed to design and implement effective crashworthy composite materials, with the first part devoted to the scientific background of crashworthiness in terms of materials, measurements of impact, and animal and human responses to crashes. The book explains the concepts and materials needed to enable vehicles and their inhabitants to withstand catastrophic forces, including the design of survival cells and their surrounding architecture. The physics of impact behavior and energy absorption are presented, and the authors show how these principles apply to the development of energy-absorbing composite materials from the microstructural level to the behavior of full-scale components. Original test protocols and data, along with an array of computer simulations, are spelled out to assist readers in evaluating composites for crashworthiness.