Numerical Investigation of Al-Reinforced CFRP Composite under Low-Velocity Impact

Abstract:

Fibre-reinforced composite materials are widespread in lightweight, high-performance applications. However, polymeric composites generally exhibit a brittle behaviour, which makes them susceptible to impact damage. Even low-velocity impacts can produce delaminations, which cause a substantial reduction of the compressive mechanical properties. Metallic layers have been embedded in composite laminates with the aim to improve their fracture behaviour: aluminium plies can be employed to increase the indentation resistance of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) specimens. For this reason, hybrid fibre-metal laminates are expected to be a viable solution to reduce the damage caused by low-velocity impacts. In this work, CFRP specimens reinforced with aluminium plies were modelled using the finite element method and a cohesive zone model. Cohesive elements based on a traction-separation formulation were embedded at each ply-to-ply interface to enforce delamination damage. Different configurations of the Al reinforcements were studied by varying the position of the aluminium layers between the CFRP plies.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volume 926)
• Pages: 1959-1968
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-0k6q8n
• Online since: July 2022
• Authors: Maria Pia Falaschetti*, Nicola Zavatta, Francesco Rondina, Enrico Troiani, Lorenzo Donati
• Keywords: Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers, Cohesive Zone Model, Fibre-Metal Laminate, Finite Element Method

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