An experimental and numerical study on the crush behaviour of hybrid unidirectional/woven carbon-fibre reinforced composite laminates

Abstract

In composite aircraft structures, woven carbon-fibre reinforced plies are often used as the surface plies of a monolithic composite panel, made from unidirectional plies, to mitigate damage during drilling and provide a measure of impact damage resistance. This research presents, for the first time, a detailed experimental and numerical study on the crush behaviour of hybrid unidirectional/woven carbon-fibre reinforced composite laminates. Quasi-static crush tests are performed on composite specimens with two different trigger geometries; a bevel-trigger and a steeple-trigger. A computational model, which accounts for both interlaminar and intralaminar damage in hybrid unidirectional (UD)/woven composite laminates, implemented as a user subroutine in Abaqus/Explicit, was used. A comparison between experimental and numerical results confirms the computational tool's accuracy in predicting the energy absorption and damage mechanisms of hybrid specimens. The proposed approach could significantly reduce the extent of physical testing required in the development of crashworthy structures.

A three-dimensional elastic-plastic damage model for predicting the impact behaviour of fibre-reinforced polymer-matrix composites

“…The general contact algorithm was invoked to govern the global interaction between the impactor and the composite specimen [54,59]. Friction coefficients of 0.2 and 0.25 were defined in the global contact and cohesive contact, respectively [60,61]. The computation accuracy was set as 'double precession' to reduce the accumulation of errors when running the simulation.…”

Effects of Impactor Geometry on the Low-Velocity Impact Behaviour of Fibre-Reinforced Composites: An Experimental and Theoretical Investigation

“…The general contact algorithm was invoked to govern the global interaction between the impactor and the composite specimen [42,43]. Friction coefficients of 0.2 and 0.25 were defined in the global contact and cohesive contact, respectively [44,45]. The computation accuracy was set as 'double precession' to reduce the accumulation of errors when running the simulation.…”

Microscale intrinsic properties of hybrid unidirectional/woven composite laminates: Part I experimental tests

“…Composite laminates made by a series of UD laminae are vulnerable under impact loading [29] and drilling [23][24], since the loads can induce fiber fractures, matrix cracking and delamination within the composites. Compared with the UD laminae, the velocity of longitudinal strain wave in the woven composites decreases due to the crimped reinforced fibers, which are helpful for energy absorption.…”

“…Compared with the UD laminae, the velocity of longitudinal strain wave in the woven composites decreases due to the crimped reinforced fibers, which are helpful for energy absorption. To mitigate local damage in composite laminates and improve their service life, hybrid composite laminates, composed of outer woven and inner unidirectional plies, have been designed and used in A220 passenger aircraft wings [24]. Liu et al, [24][25] carried out experimental and numerical studies on crash behaviors and compression-after-impact strength of hybrid unidirectional/woven composite laminate (HUWCL).…”

“…To mitigate local damage in composite laminates and improve their service life, hybrid composite laminates, composed of outer woven and inner unidirectional plies, have been designed and used in A220 passenger aircraft wings [24]. Liu et al, [24][25] carried out experimental and numerical studies on crash behaviors and compression-after-impact strength of hybrid unidirectional/woven composite laminate (HUWCL). The proposed numerical method could significantly reduce the amount of physical tests required in the development of crashworthy structures.…”