Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of Impact Induced Damage Progression in Fiber Reinforced Composites

Damage process in composites subjected to low-velocity impact is investigated both experimentally and numerically. Drop-weight impact experiments are carried out, in which a model unidirectional [0/90]s carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate beam is impacted by a cylindrical head creating an almost uniform two-dimensional loading condition. Damage sequence is visualized in real-time via ultra-high-speed camera and the resulting final failure patterns are characterized by a digital microscope. In the computational part, a three-dimensional finite element analysis is performed in ABAQUS/Explicit with the intraply matrix and delamination models. Damage initiation time, location and the interaction of failure modes are compared with the experimental data. A very good overall agreement between experimental and numerical results is observed