Numerical study for the structural analysis of composite laminates subjected to low velocity impact

The influence of preload and boundary conditions on pre-damaged composite plates subject to soft-body impact

“…The results presented in this section highlight the importance of boundary condition compliance in scaled testing and its potential use as an energy absorbing mechanism to assist the reduction of impact force and composite failure during impact. The practical implementation of these results could include the application of deformable materials such as rubber at discrete mounting locations, equivalent to the position of the translational boundary conditions in the current simulations or simple spring/shock absorbing devices [19].…”

“…During the development of the simulations the authors included the supporting frame due to its potential influence on the impact measurements. Caputo et al [19] highlighted the importance of boundary condition setup on the energy absorption of CFRP panels. The authors identified discrepancies between test and simulation results at an impact energy level of 50 J attributing the variation to difficulties in modelling the semi-compliant rubber material used in the clamping system.…”

Numerical study of the structural behaviour of impacted composite laminates subjected to compression load

“…The drop mass and the support fixture of the test machine have been modelled as rigid bodies. Different boundary conditions have been used for the impact and the compression steps [6]. Fig.…”

“…Currently, in order to take into account these negative aspects during the design phase, large conservative safety factors are regularly applied to composite components. As matter of the fact, low velocity impact damages and notch sensitivity effects imply decreasing of the ultimate design load value, up to 30% of its nominal value [6,13].…”

“…Most of these depend on the fact that several types of undetectable defects and damages affect the residual strength of composite structures, especially when they are subjected to particular loading conditions. Low velocity impacts (LVI) are the most common source of undetectable damages for reinforced plastic composite structures [1e5], causing a significantly lowering of their residual strength [6].…”