Abstract

This paper bridges the gap between experimental work and numerical simulation to investigate the damage caused in glass/epoxy laminate. A major drawback of low and/or high-velocity impact on polymer composite is online monitoring of induced stress, stress pattern and cross-section study of damage formation. Drop weight impact is done to investigate energy absorption and damage caused in glass woven composite laminates. Validation, as well as the elimination of experimental limitations, is done using 3D commercially available finite element software LS-DYNA. Eight layered symmetrical laminate of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite was fabricated using hand layup technique assisted by vacuum bagging method. Lowvelocity impact (LVI) testing is done at three energy levels 50J, 70J and 90J. Results of the study justified a good agreement between experimental work and numerical modeling. Furthermore, the present investigation concluded that it is nearly imperfect if only experiment-based study or FEM analysis is performed for LV indentation. Hence, to attain throughout evaluation of damage resistance it is necessary to consider both methods i.e. experimental approach and numerical analysis simultaneously.

Keywords:FRPs; Symmetrical laminates; LVI; Damage tolerance; LS-DYNA