The primary objective of this work was to identify the effect of cooling rate on the energy absorption capabilities of carbon fibre/PEEK tubes. Thermoplastic composite tubes were fabricated using a thermally expandable PTFE mandrel technique. Three cooling rates were used: rapid-cooling (95.5°C/min.), gradual-cooling (8.2°C/min.) and slow-cooling (0.7°C/min.). The energy absorption characteristics were evaluated by axial compression of tube specimens between flat platens. All the composite tubes, independent of cooling rate, crushed progressively in splaying mode. The specific energy absorption capability of rapidly cooled tubes was 15% higher than that of gradually-cooled and slowly-cooled tubes. Efforts have been made to identify the factors which resulted in the superior energy absorption capability of rapidly cooled tubes.
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