Evaluation of Progressive Damage of Nano-Modified Composite Laminates Under Repeated Impacts

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

4-18-2016

Publication Title

Proceedings of Behavior and Mechanics of Multifunctional Materials and Composites

DOI

10.1117/12.2219410

Abstract

However, studies on the effect of nano-reinforcements in repeated impact scenarios are relatively limited. This work investigates the effect of resin nanoclay modification on the impact resistance of glass-fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites subjected to repeated impacts. Three impact energy levels were used in experiments with a minimum of four specimens per case for statistical significance. Each sample was subjected to 40 repeated impacts or was tested up to perforation, whichever happened first. The impact response was evaluated in terms of evolution of the peak force, bending stiffness, visual damage inspection and optical transmission scanning (OTS) at critical stages as a function of number of impacts. Also, the damage degree (DD) was calculated to monitor the evolution of damage in the laminates. As expected, the impact response of the GFRP composites varied based on the presence of nano-clay and the applied impact energy. The modification of the resin with nano-clay introduced novel phenomena that changed the damage progression mechanism under repetitive impacts, which was verified by visual observation and optical transmission scanning. A better understanding of these phenomena (e.g. crack-bridging, tortuosity) and their contributions to enhancements in the impact behavior and modifications of the types of damage propagation can lead to better design of novel structural composites.

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