Scaling Effects in the Low Velocity Impact Response of Fiber-Metal Laminates

Abstract

Scaling effects in the low velocity impact response of a polypropylene-based fiber-metal laminate (FML) structure have been investigated. The FML was based on a 2024 aluminum alloy, a self-reinforced polypropylene composite and a polypropylene film acting as an interlayer adhesive. The study focuses on the assessing the possibility of using scale model tests for predicting the full scale low velocity impact response of FMLs based on [Aln, 0°/90°n]s and [Al, 0°/90°]ns configurations. These two systems were used to scale four different sample sizes (n = 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and full scale). The impact load-displacement traces were normalized and found to collapse onto a single curve, suggesting that the laminates obey a scaling law. Attention also focused on characterizing the resulting damage in these multi-layered systems, where it was shown that the deformation modes and failure mechanisms were similar in all four scaled sizes. Other parameters such as the maximum impact force and the time to maximum load showed little sensitivity to scale size. This evidence suggests that data collected from tests on small FML plates can be used to predict the low velocity impact response of larger, more representative structures.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Metal Type and Thickness Effects on the Impact Resistance of Fiber Metal Laminates

“…Some other variables affecting impact properties of FMLs were studied by other researchers such as: type of fibers [12,13], type of matrices [14][15][16], lay-up configuration [4,17], scaling effect [18,19] and geometry of impactor [20,21].…”

Low velocity impact response of fibre-metal laminates – A review

“…But, the transient nature of composite material property promotes deviations in scaling laws for dynamic events like strain-rate behavior. The work of Carillo and Cantwell [50] was similar to that of Damodar [49], except that Ref. [50] fully devoted to FMLs.…”

“…The work of Carillo and Cantwell [50] was similar to that of Damodar [49], except that Ref. [50] fully devoted to FMLs. Scaling stacking sequence was investigated using two approaches viz., ply-level scaling [Al n ,0/ 90 n ] s (scaling thickness of each ply) and sublaminate-level scaling [Al,0/90] ns (repetition of simple sublaminate structure).…”

“…Regarding the scaling effects of FML, two articles [50,51] investigated the response of reference and scaled specimen. Mckown, Cantwell and Jones [51] analyzed 2/1 SRPP FML based on a parameter k (ratio of characteristic length in model to the corresponding value in the reference full scale) with four values 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.…”

Caracterização de danos e resistência residual de um laminado híbrido metal/fibra após impactos repetidos de baixa energia

“…A representatividade dos ensaios de impacto transversal de espécimes compósitos convencionais com pequenas dimensões em simulações do comportamento de componentes de maior porte tem sido fartamente documentada na literatura [14][15][16], com a ressalva de que o dano deva se restringir a uma porção significativamente pequena dos primeiros, tal como essencialmente ocorreu neste trabalho. Dados coletados em ensaios de pequenos espécimes de LMF têm também sido empregados na previsão da resposta de estruturas mais robustas e representativas [17,18].…”