Polymer watrix woven fabric composites subjected to low velocity impact. II - Effect of plate thickness

Studies were carried out on the damage initiation behavior of polymer matrix woven fabric (WF) composite plates subjected to a transverse central low velocity point impact load. Specifically, the effect of composite plate thickness on the impact behavior was investigated with a square plate of 150 x 150 mm with thicknesses varying from 4.5 to 8.0 mm. The material systems considered are: E-glass/epoxy and T300/5208 carbon/epoxy. In-plane failure of the layers in the form of matrix cracking/lamina splitting and delaminations were the primary objectives of the study. The studies were carried out using an in-house Finite Element Analysis code. The in-plane failure functions and the interlaminar failure functions were predicted using quadratic failure criteria. General observations on the impact behavior of polymer matrix WF composites as a function of plate thickness are presented. (Author)