Simulation of Drop-Weight Impact Test on Composite Laminates using Finite Element Method


Bozkurt M. O., Parnas K. L., ÇÖKER D.

1st International Workshop on Plasticity, Damage and Fracture of Engineering Materials, IWPDF 2019, Ankara, Turkey, 22 - 23 August 2019, vol.21, pp.206-214 identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • Volume: 21
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.prostr.2019.12.103
  • City: Ankara
  • Country: Turkey
  • Page Numbers: pp.206-214
  • Keywords: Drop-weight impact, finite element analysis, composite, matrix crack, delamination, LOW-VELOCITY IMPACT, COMPRESSION, FRACTURE
  • TED University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.This study presents the simulation of standard drop-weight impact test on a [0/90/0]s composite laminate. For this purpose, a three-dimensional virtual test setup is developed in ABAQUS/Explicit finite element tool. Hemispherical impactor and specimen fixture are modeled as rigid bodies. Composite plate is modeled as a 3-D deformable solid and discretized using a biased mesh for computational efficiency. For simulation of ply damage in the composite laminate, a continuum damage mechanics based damage model is developed and implemented into the analysis via a user-written subroutine VUMAT. Delamination damage is simulated by inserting cohesive elements at the interfaces of plies having different orientations. Results show that the initial failure mechanism in the 3-D low-velocity impact event is the matrix cracking in the lowermost plies independent from the stacking sequence of the laminate. Furthermore, the simulation accurately predict that delaminated regions expand mainly in the same direction as of the fibers of the lower adjacent layer in accordance with the bending stiffness mismatching concept.