Shirley K. García-Castillo

Influence of areal density on the energy absorbed by thin composite plates subjected to high-velocity impacts

This work analyses the influence that the areal density of a composite thin-plate, made of glass-fibre woven laminates and subjected to high-velocity impact, exerts on perforation-threshold energy, contact time, and energy-absorption mechanisms. The perforation-threshold energy increased with the areal density. Also, the contact time increased at impact energies above the perforation-threshold energy and decreased below this threshold. The main energy-absorption mechanisms at impact energies close to that causing perforation were found to be the deformation and failure of the fibres, regardless of the areal density. For higher impact energies, the main mechanisms were fibre failure and the energy absorbed by acceleration of the laminate.

Perforation of Composite Laminate Subjected to Dynamic Loads

This chapter focuses on the modeling of plain woven GFRP laminates under high-velocity impact. A brief review of the different approaches available in scientific literature to model the behavior of composite laminates subjected to high-velocity impact of low-mass projectiles is presented, and a new analytical model is proposed. The present model is able to predict the energy absorbed by the laminate during the perforation process including the main energy-absorption mechanisms for thin laminates: kinetic energy transferred to the laminate, fiber failure, elastic deformation, matrix cracking, and delamination.