Papers by Author: Seung Min Jang

Abstract: This paper investigated the initiation and propagation characteristics of impact-induced damage in carbon-fiber-reinforced-plastic (CFRP) laminates with different stacking sequences and thicknesses under low-velocity impact. Impact force histories were measured with a drop-weight impact tester. A strain gauge was attached on the back face of CFRP laminates to measure exactly when a matrix crack on its back face was initiated. It was found from fractographic observation that impact-induced damage in CFRP laminates was initiated at the matrix crack on the back face of CFRP laminates due to bending deformation during impact. Finite element analysis was conducted using the impact forces derived from the experimental results of the impact test. Its results clarified that the tensile stress normal to the fiber on the back face of the specimen was the criterion to initiate impact damage in CFRP laminates.

Abstract: The development characteristics of impact-induced damage in carbon-fiber-reinforcedplastics (CFRP) laminates were experimentally studied using a drop-weight impact tester. Five types of CFRP laminates were used to investigate the effect of stacking sequences and thicknesses. The efficiency of absorbed energy to impact energy was different for CFRP laminates with different stacking sequences or thicknesses. The DA/AE ratio of delamination area (DA) to absorbed energy (AE) was almost the same for CFRP laminates with the same stacking sequence regardless of the thickness. We found that the DA/AE ratio could be used as a parameter to characterize the impact damage resistance in CFRP laminates with different stacking sequences.

Abstract: In this paper, the energy absorption characteristics on extruded aluminum box-section strengthened with carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) laminates and/or foam material were investigated under impact loading. Impact tests using a pneumatic impact tester were conducted with the specimens in three-point bending flexure with consideration given to the side-door impact beams in vehicles. The absorbed energy to the specimen during the impact was determined from the loaddisplacement curve, which was obtained from the strain gauge attached to the impactor and the laser displacement transducer. From the results, it was found that the strengthening by externally bonding with CFRP laminates improved the impact-induced energy absorption. Also, the effect of the improvement was clearly seen in the case of the use of filling form material in the aluminum extrusion together with attaching CFRP laminates.