Development of an established FE model for the simulation of LVI tests on GFRP plates

This paper deals with the development of a numerical model, based on the Finite Element Method (FEM), for the simulation of Low Velocity Impact (LVI) phenomena on short Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymers (GFRP) plates with two different impact energy levels. In order to assess the reliability of the proposed FE model, the numerical results have been compared to the experimental ones achieved by a tests campaign carried out within such research activity; tests have been performed according to the ASTM D7136 requirement. The overall contact force response in the FE simulations match well with the experimental measurements in terms of both slope and peak.