Effects of interply hybridization on the damage resistance and tolerance of composite laminates

Abstract This paper presents an experimental study of the drop-weight impact response of interply hybrid laminates manufactured using polymer-matrix composite materials. Three different reinforcements, woven carbon fabric, woven glass fabric and unidirectional carbon tape, are combined with an epoxy resin using the Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) process. In-plane quasi-isotropic laminates are analyzed by combining pairs of materials and by changing their location in the through-the-thickness direction of the laminate. In addition, different impact configurations defined in terms of impact energy are performed to increase the number of case studies. The analysis is completed by non-destructive inspections based on ultrasonic technique and Compression After Impact (CAI) tests for the assessment of the residual strength. The results obtained highlight the effects of interply carbon and glass hybridization under low-velocity impact and CAI loading.

[1]  Ersin Demir,et al.  The effect of temperatures on hybrid composite laminates under impact loading , 2012 .

[2]  Michel Castaings,et al.  Air-coupled ultrasonic C-scan technique in impact response testing of carbon fibre and hybrid: glass, carbon and Kevlar/epoxy composites , 2004 .

[3]  Xin Wang,et al.  Low velocity impact properties of 3D woven basalt/aramid hybrid composites , 2008 .

[4]  E. V. González,et al.  Damage resistance and damage tolerance of dispersed CFRP laminates: Effect of ply clustering , 2013 .

[5]  Hemendra Arya,et al.  Impact response and damage tolerance characteristics of glass-carbon/epoxy hybrid composite plates , 2001 .

[6]  S. Tsai,et al.  Experimental studies of thin-ply laminated composites , 2007 .

[7]  Emile S. Greenhalgh,et al.  The assessment of novel materials and processes for the impact tolerant design of stiffened composite aerospace structures , 2003 .

[8]  A. Peijs,et al.  Hybrid composites based on polyethylene and carbon fibres. Part 4: Influence of hybrid design on impact strength , 1991 .

[9]  H. Naceur,et al.  Numerical modeling of nonlinearity, plasticity and damage in CFRP-woven composites for crash simulations , 2014 .

[10]  J. Jang,et al.  Impact behavior of aramid fiber/glass fiber hybrid composite: Evaluation of four-layer hybrid composites , 2001 .

[11]  Valentina Lopresto,et al.  Effect of stitches on the impact behaviour of graphite/epoxy composites , 2006 .

[12]  Hiroshi Saito,et al.  Effect of ply-thickness on impact damage morphology in CFRP laminates , 2011 .

[13]  S. Iannace,et al.  Hybrid composites based on aramid and basalt woven fabrics: Impact damage modes and residual flexural properties , 2013 .

[14]  P. Camanho,et al.  Prediction of size effects in notched laminates using continuum damage mechanics , 2007 .

[15]  G. Caprino,et al.  Low-velocity impact behaviour of fibreglass-aluminium laminates , 2004 .

[16]  Pedro P. Camanho,et al.  Effects of ply clustering in laminated composite plates under low-velocity impact loading , 2011 .

[17]  Lutz Eckstein,et al.  Lightweight Floor Structure with Reinforcements of CFRP and GFRP , 2011 .

[18]  Pj Piet Lemstra,et al.  Hybrid composites based on polyethylene and carbon fibres Part 3: Impact resistant structural composites through damage management , 1990 .

[19]  Benjamin Liaw,et al.  Drop-weight impact of plain-woven hybrid glass–graphite/toughened epoxy composites , 2009 .

[20]  N. Pan,et al.  A comparative study on low-velocity impact response of fabric composite laminates , 2013 .

[21]  A. Vlot,et al.  Impact loading on fibre metal laminates , 1996 .

[22]  N. Gascons,et al.  Size Effect Law and Critical Distance Theories to Predict the Nominal Strength of Quasibrittle Structures , 2013 .

[23]  M. Shokrieh,et al.  The influence of hybridization on impact damage behavior and residual compression strength of intraply basalt/nylon hybrid composites , 2013 .

[24]  Hasan Çallıoğlu,et al.  Impact Behavior of Hybrid Composite Plates , 2010 .

[25]  Numan Behlül Bektaş,et al.  An experimental investigation on the impact behavior of hybrid composite plates , 2010 .

[26]  F. Delale,et al.  Effect of repeated impacts on the response of plain-woven hybrid composites , 2010 .

[27]  Tien-Wei Shyr,et al.  Impact resistance and damage characteristics of composite laminates , 2003 .

[28]  M. Shokrieh,et al.  Low velocity impact properties of intra-ply hybrid composites based on basalt and nylon woven fabrics , 2010 .

[29]  J. Jang,et al.  Impact Behavior of Aramid Fiber/Glass Fiber Hybrid Composite: Evaluation of Impact Behavior Using Delamination Area , 2000 .

[30]  A. Aktaş,et al.  The effect of stacking sequence on the impact and post-impact behavior of woven/knit fabric glass/epoxy hybrid composites , 2013 .

[31]  S. Jeelani,et al.  Experimental investigations on the response of stitched/unstitched woven S2-glass/SC15 epoxy composites under single and repeated low velocity impact loading , 2003 .

[32]  Serge Abrate,et al.  Impact on Composite Structures , 1998 .

[33]  Francesco Pilati,et al.  Intraply and interply hybrid composites based on E‐glass and poly(vinyl alcohol) woven fabrics: tensile and impact properties , 2004 .

[34]  T. Ogasawara,et al.  Experimental characterization of strength and damage resistance properties of thin-ply carbon fiber/toughened epoxy laminates , 2008 .

[35]  Francisco Gálvez,et al.  Effect of Glass Fiber Hybridization on the Behavior Under Impact of Woven Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Laminates , 2010 .

[36]  Shaik Jeelani,et al.  Studies on the low-velocity impact response of woven hybrid composites , 2005 .

[37]  J. Jang,et al.  Impact behavior of aramid fiber/glass fiber hybrid composites : The effect of stacking sequence , 2001 .

[38]  Werner Hufenbach,et al.  Hybrid 3D-textile reinforced composites with tailored property profiles for crash and impact applications , 2009 .

[39]  E. V. González,et al.  Damage resistance and damage tolerance of dispersed CFRP laminates: Effect of the mismatch angle between plies , 2013 .

[40]  Xiaozhi Hu,et al.  Improving impact resistance of carbon-fibre composites through interlaminar reinforcement , 2002 .

[41]  Wesley J. Cantwell,et al.  The Impact Properties of High-temperature Fiber-Metal Laminates , 2007 .