Simulation of impact responses on carbon fibre composite laminates / Nurhazwani Shahirah Abd Jamil

Composites are widely used in structural applications due to their excellent mechanical performance. Despite having good mechanical properties, the composite is not exempted from damage due to low-velocity impact. Since low-velocity impact damage is undetectable and may scale down the stiffness of the composite laminates as well as the structure’s strength, the behavior of composite laminate after being impacted by low-velocity impact is investigated. The effects of low-velocity impact and the effects of layup sequences on carbon fibre reinforced epoxy (CFRE) composite plates were investigated numerically using FEA software, ABAQUS/Explicit. Four main layup sequences have been analyzed: CFL1 [0/90]8, CFL2 [0/90/ ± 45/ ± 45/0/90]S, CFL3 [0/90/0/90/ ± 45/ ± 45]S, and CFL4 [0/90/ ± 45/0/90/ ± 45]S and they were tested with four different impact energies: 4 J, 8 J, 12 J, and 16 J. The analysis reveals that the high impact energy leads to the larger maximum value of contact force and energy absorbed by the composite laminates. It is also apparent that there is an increment in the impact damage resistance of the quasi-isotropic laminates when the percentage of fibre orientated in the +45°/-45° direction is added to the layup sequence than the conventional fibres orientated in the 0°/90° direction only. The lowest impact resistance was obtained in the case of composite with 0°/90° ply orientation, which discloses the energy absorption and the ply orientation have a great influence over the impact behavior of the composite laminates.