Palliatives for Low Velocity Impact Damage in Composite Laminates

Abstract

Fibre reinforced polymer laminated composites are susceptible to impact damage during manufacture, normal operation, maintenance, and/or other stages of their life cycle. Initiation and growth of such damage lead to dramatic loss in the structural integrity and strength of laminates. This damage is generally difficult to detect and repair. This makes it important to find a preventive solution. There has been abundance of research dealing with the impact damage evolution of composite laminates and methods to mitigate and alleviate the damage initiation and growth. This article presents a comprehensive review of different strategies dealing with development of new composite materials investigated by several research groups that can be used to mitigate the low velocity impact damage in laminated composites. Hybrid composites, composites with tough thermoplastic resins, modified matrices, surface modification of fibres, translaminar reinforcements, and interlaminar modifications such as interleaving, short fibre reinforcement, and particle based interlayer are discussed in this article. A critical evaluation of various techniques capable of enhancing impact performance of laminated composites and future directions in this research field are presented in this article.

Enhancing Impact Energy Absorption, Flexural and Crash Performance Properties of Automotive Composite Laminates by Adjusting the Stacking Sequences Layup

“…In their study, the authors explored various matrix and fiber combinations used in impact applications and documented that existing research focuses primarily on the impact behavior of CFRP around the traditional conventional stiff composites, with sacrificial structures receiving little attention when exposed to the impact. High strain rates or impact loads are almost unavoidable in composite material applications; thus, their static strength is not the only consideration, and impact behavior and energy absorption properties are also crucial [ 23 ]. In some instances, efforts to refine the in-plane mechanical properties lead to compromise in impact performance.…”

Analysis of Impact Behaviour of Sisal-Epoxy Composites under Low Velocity Regime

“…The appropriateness of jute epoxy composite laminate for low and ballistic velocity impacts was studied by Mahesh et al [5] and was found that jute-epoxy composite is better suitable for low velocity impact rather than ballistic impact. The extent to which the damage resistance of the composite is enhanced mainly depends on the impact velocity [6]. Thus, it is essential to assess the role of impact velocity on the impact behaviour of the composite.…”

Impact Localization in Composites Using Time Reversal, Embedded PZT Transducers, and Topological Algorithms

“…Fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) composite materials are becoming increasingly popular, particularly in the aerospace field, due to their higher mechanical benefits over metals such as low weight and high stiffness and strength (Chandrashekhar and Ganguli, 2016;Baccar and Söffker, 2017;Castro et al, 2019). However, composite components can often demonstrate fragility toward low-velocity impacts (Atobe et al, 2011;Marchi et al, 2011;Ciampa et al, 2016;Ali et al, 2017), which can considerably degrade the structural integrity and, if not detected, they can result in catastrophic failures. Acoustic emission (AE)-based structural health monitoring (SHM) systems have become an important tool to provide in-service detection and localization of low-velocity impacts, thus enhancing safety of composite components.…”