Modelling of Low Velocity Impact of Laminated Composite Substructures

Abstract

Impact is among the important loading scenario which is required to be addressed for fibre reinforced plastics (FRP) materials in ground or space vehicle applications. The failure behaviour of FRP materials under impact loading is a complex process and a detailed analysis of various mode of failure is necessary. In this paper the failure behaviour of laminated carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite structures under impact loading is investigated by conducting numerical simulations using the explicit finite element analysis ANSYS LS-DYNA software [1]. The impact responses and failure behaviours are being investigated by performing a parametric study and sensitivity analysis in which impact velocity, number of plies, incident angle, friction between contacted surfaces, impactor mass and the geometry are varied in separate cases. The FE model is validated by comparing the numerical results with other published results and good correlations are achieved.

Delamination of impacted composite structures by cohesive zone interface elements and tiebreak contact

“…The plate and impactor are meshed as shown in Figure 2. From previous studies on mesh sensitivity analysis [1] the element size in FE model was set to 5 mm and impactor meshed freely. The low velocity impact experiments on this plate are reported on [5].…”

“…Impact damage is always considered as one of the major concerns in FRP structures, as accidental impact from dropped tools, hail stone and bird strike frequently cause damage such as fibre breakage, matrix cracking and delamination [1]. This could lead to the significant decrease of material strength and stiffness particularly under compressive buckling load and hence severely reducing structural integrity and stability.…”

Numerical modelling of impact damage on carbon fiber reinforced polymer laminates

“…The resulting failure mode is a function of the type of loading, the lay-up sequence, and the boundary conditions of the structure [9]. Failure initiation can be in the form of fiber breakage, matrix cracking, and delamination between plies [10], which can lead to the significant decrease of material strength and stiffness, thus, severely reducing structural integrity and stability [1]. For safety reasons, it is important to have predictive design tools for simulating the response of the laminated composite structures under impact loading in order to understand the mechanisms of delamination, energy absorption and failure [1].…”