composite structure

Low-velocity/low-energy edge impact and quasi-static experiments have been carried out on carbon fiber-reinforced plastic structures. A drop-weight testing machine has been used to impact four different uni-directional laminates at 10, 20 and 35-J impact energy levels. In parallel, a quasi-static study has been carried out to compare its results with the impact ones. The residual behavior will be provided by the compression after impact tests. The impact results show that the static and dynamic behaviors are different. The difference between static and dynamic edge impacts, to understand the impact damage scenario, is explained with the help of an analytical approach irrespective of the stacking or impact energy. This approach provides good results regarding the dynamic and static initial stiffness along with the crushing plateau. It has been observed that the fiber properties control the initial impact stiffness, while in the quasi-static indentation case, the properties of the matrix control the initial indentation stiffness; whereas the crushing plateau is also controlled by the matrix properties