A finite element analysis on the ballistic impact performance of two-layered laminate design inspired by teleost fish scales

The use of metallic, ceramic and FRP composite to attain better impact resistance is common in several industries such as automobile, aerospace and marine. This paper reports the impact resistance properties and damage behaviour of bioinspired two-layered structures inspired by teleost fish scales. The two-layered design is the combination of aluminum (Al) or silicon carbide (SiC) or carbon fiber reinforced laminates with polycarbonate (PC). A total of three combinations as Al/PC, SiC/PC, and CFRP/PC structures are numerically simulated under ballistic impact velocities of 600, 700, 800, and 900 m/s from the transverse direction using ANSYS v-2021. The upper layer of the laminate design is the impacting side, and the sub-layer of the laminate design is the non-impacting side. The Al, SiC, and CFRP are present at the upper layer, whereas the polycarbonate is present at the sublayer. The thickness of the upper layer and sub-layer was 6 mm and 4 mm, respectively. The laminate dimensions are 100 mm × 100 mm. The results of this investigation proved that a combination of different materials with variations in material nature (ductile to brittle or vice-versa) and properties significantly affected the impact resistance performance. The best combination of two-layered bioinspired designs to maximize the impact properties is SiC/PC structure with a ceramic layer at the top and a polycarbonate layer in the sublayer. Graphical Abstract