A comparative study on the low velocity impact behavior of UD, woven, and hybrid UD/woven FRP composite laminates

Binlin Ma, Xiaofei Cao, Yu Feng*, Yujian Song, Fei Yang, Ying Li*, Deyue Zhang, Yipeng Wang, Yuting He

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study is aimed at comparing the response and damage of unidirectional (UD), woven fabric (WF) and hybrid UD/WF fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) laminates subjected to low velocity impact. The unidirectional tape and/or woven fabric (plain weave) carbon/epoxy prepregs are laminated and hot-pressed to produce UD, WF and sandwich-like hybrid UD/WF specimens. Impact responses of specimens are determined through low velocity impact (LVI) tests with impact energies of 10 J, 17 J and 25 J. After the LVI tests, the damage of specimens is characterized and analyzed using a combination of visual inspection, ultrasonic phased-array inspection, micro-computed tomography (CT) inspection, cross-sectional microscopic observation, and thermal de-ply test. Also, the LVI damage mechanisms of the three types of specimens are quantitatively compared by using the inter fiber crack volume ratio, total delamination area and fiber fracture length. It is concluded that the fiber architecture plays an important role in determining low velocity impact behavior of composite laminates. Especially, for the sandwich-like hybrid UD/WF laminates whose surface is a WF layer and the core is a UD layer, the WF layer on the surface plays an important role in reducing matrix cracking, delamination and fiber fracture, thus improving its LVI resistance.

Original languageEnglish
Article number111133
JournalComposites Part B: Engineering
Volume271
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Feb 2024

Keywords

  • Damage analysis
  • FRP laminates
  • Fiber architecture
  • Impact response
  • Low velocity impact

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