Validation of an efficient finite element analysis approach for simulation of low velocity impact and compression strength after impact response

Abstract An efficient computational approach to simulate the damage during an impact event and subsequently predict the remaining compression strength is presented in this paper. The two-step explicit finite element modeling scheme to simulate the damage as interlaminar delaminations during an impact event and the ensuing failure during a compression test is developed to eliminate the typical issues associated with manual transfer of damage details between an impact simulation and a quasi-static compression failure simulation. The residual strength after impact simulation is predicted based on the damage state predicted by the impact model. Experiments were performed to validate the numerical study for 24 and 32 ply quasi-isotropic laminates, generally used in aircraft structure, with two different boundary conditions to ensure that the model is capable enough to predict the behavior of an impact even under different boundary conditions. A strong correlation is found between the delamination damage observed experimentally and the model predictions. Furthermore, the finite element approach presented in this paper was able to accurately simulate the compression strength after impact.