Acoustic Emission Analysis of Composite Laminates under Low Velocity Impact

One of the problems preventing the industrial application of composites is the lack of an efficient method to detect and discriminate among types of damage occurring during service. To solve this problem, low velocity impact experiments are carried out on T300/QY8911 composite laminates. And synchronously, the acoustic emission (AE) technique and impact monitoring systems were used to record the AE signals and the impact force. The damage evolution, damage modes and acoustic emission (AE) activity were easily detected and evaluated by the analysis of both AE waveform and impact load. In this way, the damage development process containing matrix cracking, delamination and fibers breakage is investigated. The energy release of damage are theoretically approximated and correlated with the AE energy. By the theory, the “high energy damage zone” is defined in the scatter diagrams of amplitude-frequency. It is easily to prove that the primary damage mode of “high energy damage zone” is delamination.