Multi-stage penetration characteristics of thick ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene laminates

To further reveal the failure mechanisms of thick ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene(UHMWPE)laminates,field firing tests were conducted for 10-,20-,and 30-mm thick laminates against 12.7-mm calibre wedge-shaped fragment simulated projectiles at high velocities between 450 and 1200 m/s.The ballistic performance,deformation process,and staged failure characteristics of the laminates with different thicknesses were compared and analysed.The results demonstrate that the ballistic limits of the UHMWPE laminates increase almost linearly with laminate thickness.The 10-mm thick laminate generally experiences two-stage failure characteristics,whereas three-staged failure occurs in the 20-and 30-mm thick laminates and the progressive delamination is evident.The energy limit concept representing the maximum energy absorption efficiency and the idea of reuse of the thick UHMWPE laminates are proposed in this study.The findings of this research will be useful in the design of flexible and effective UHMWPE-based protective equipment.

Ballistic penetration damages of hybrid plain-woven laminates with carbon,Kevlar and UHMWPE fibers in different stacking sequences

Hybrid composite materials combine different fibers in preform and take advantages of different mechanical behaviors for improving ballistic impact damage tolerances.Here we report ballistic impact damages of plain-woven laminates with different hybrids and stacking sequences.Three kinds of hybrid laminates,i.e.,carbon/Kevlar,carbon/ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene(UHMWPE),and UHMWPE/Kevlar,had been prepared and tested in ballistic penetration with fragment simulating projectiles(FSP).The residual velocities of the projectiles and impact damage morphologies of the laminates have been obtained to show impact energy absorptions for the different hybrid schemes.A microstructural model of the hybrid laminates had also been established to show impact damage mechanisms with finite element analysis(FEA).We found that the UHMWPE/Kevlar hybrid laminates with Kevlar layers as the front face have the highest energy absorption capacity,followed by the carbon/Kevlar hybrid laminates with carbon layers as the front face.The main damage modes are fiber breakages,matrix crack and interlayer delamination.The ballistic damage evolutions from the FEA results show that the major damage is shear failure for front layers,while tension failure for the back layers.We expect that the ballistic impact performance could be improved from the different hybrid schemes.

A FATIGUE FAILURE CRITERION OF NOTCHED GFRP LAMINATES

A fatigue failure criterion for predicting the fatigue life of notched orthotropic fiber reinforced plasties (FRP) plates based on the concept of stress field intensity (SFI) near the notch root is subjected to further experiments. The investigation is accomplished by obtaining experimental data on the notched specimens of glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP) with edged notches under tension tension cyclic loading. The process of initiation and growth of fatigue damage near the notch root is measured by means of the optic system with a computer controlled display (CCD) camera. The experimental results show that the number of loading cycles required to initiate fatigue damage is governed by the stress field intensity.

Low-velocity Impact Damage Analysis of Composite Laminates Using Self-adapting Delamination Element Method

On the basis ofa 2D 4-node Mindlin shell element method, a novel self-adapting delamination finite element method is presented, which is developed to model the delamination damage of composite laminates. In the method, the sublaminate elements are generated automatically when the delamination damage occurs or extends. Thus, the complex process and state of delamination damage can be simulated practically with high efficiency for both analysis and modeling. Based on the self-adapting delamination method, linear dynamic finite element damage analysis is performed to simulate the low-velocity impact damage process of three types of mixed woven composite laminates. Taking the frictional force among sublaminations during delaminating and the transverse normal stress into account, the analytical results are consistent with those of the experimental data.

Damping and Mechanical Properties of Cocured Composite Laminates with Embedded Perforate Viscoelastic Layer

The composite laminates with embedded acrylonitrile butadiene rubber （NBR） layer were fabricated by cocuring process. The embedded layers were perforated with a series of small holes to allow resin to flow through the damping layer and completely couple the structure to improve bending stiffness and interlaminar shearing strength of these cocured composite laminates. The damping, bending stiffness and shearing strength of these composite laminates with different perforation diameters were investigated. The experimental results show that increasing the perforation diameter leads to significant decreases in damping and significant increase in bending stiffness up to an area ratio of 7.065%. The area ratio here is defined as the ratio of perforation area to the total damping area. Beyond the area ratio of 7.065%, increasing the diameter to an area ratio of 50.24% results in only a slight variation in damping and bending stiffness. Moreover, increasing the perforation diameter does not always increase the shearing strength of the embedded viscoelastic layer. The shearing strength of embedded viscoelastic layer increases only when the area ratio is greater than 19.625%; instead, it will decrease.

Damage Detection and Material Property Reconstruction of Composite Laminates Using Laser Ultrasonic Technique

Laser ultrasonic technique has received increasing attentions in the past decade due to its contactless nature and a wide range of applications have been reported. In this review,applications of laser ultrasonic technique developed at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics(NUAA)as well as elsewhere for non-destructive testing in composite laminates are presented. The principles of generating and detecting in a laser ultrasonic system are introduced,three different system configurations are also introduced with each configuration's advantages and disadvantages explained. More importantly,two major applications developed at NUAA for composite laminates are presented including damage detection,stiffness reconstruction and fatigue life prediction. Both applications are realized by a fixed-point PZT sensor and scanning pulse laser based on the linear reciprocal theorem. Analytical method and numerical models are employed and developed to realize the functionalities.

Low velocity impact studies of E-glass/epoxy composite laminates at different thicknesses and temperatures

Low velocity impact experiments were carried out on E-glass/epoxy composite laminates having varying thicknesses at sub zero and elevated temperatures using hemi spherical steel impactor of 16 mm diameter with impact energies in the rage of 50-150 J.The performance of the laminates was assessed in terms of energy absorption,maximum displacement,peak force and failure behaviour.Results indicated that the effect of temperature on energy absorption of the laminate is negligible although the laminates are embrittling at sub zero temperatures.However it has influence on failure behaviour and displacement.Peak force has increased linearly with increase in laminate thickness from 5 to 10 mm.However it got reduced by 25% when temperature was increased from-20℃ to 100℃,Based on experimental results,laminate perforation energies were predicted using curve fitting equations.Statistical analysis was carried out using Taguchi method to identify the global effects of various parameters on laminate performance and confirmed that the laminate thickness has significant influence as compared to temperature,for the studied range.

RELAXATION BEHAVIOUR OF GFRP UNIDIRECTIONAL LAMINATES

In this paper two set of GFRP specimens are manufactured and tested to investigate the relaxation behaviour under cyclic loading in the longitudinal and transversel direction. The relaxation of GFRP unidirectional laminates is evident for both cyclic loadings. Under longitudinal cyclic loading the relaxation is dependent on the number of loading cycles. Under transverse loading the relaxation depends on the loading cycles as well as the time of loading. Two expressions are set up to describe the relaxation for the longitudinal and transverse loading, and the predictions agree well with the experimental data.

Effect of SACMA and QMW Test Methods on Compressive Properties of Composite Laminates after Low Velocity Impact

Experimental studies on the compressive behavior of composite laminates after low velocity impact was carried out with two test methods.One is SACMA Standard,and the other is a small dimensional specimen test method.Impact damage distributions,compressive failure process after impact,quasi static indentation and compression of laminates with a hole were brought into comparison between these two test methods.The results showed that there is a great difference between these two test methods.Compressive behavior of laminates after impact varies with different test methods.Residual compressive strength of laminates after low velocity impact measured with SACMA Standard can reflect stiffness properties of composite resins more wholely than that measured with the other method can do.Small dimensional specimen test method should be improved on as an experimental standard of compressive strength after impact.

FATIGUE LIFE PREDICTION THEORY OF COMPOSITE LAMINATES AND EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION

According to traditional phenomenological fatigue methodology and moderncontinuum damage mechanics theory, dual fatigue cumulative damage rules to predict fatigue damageformation and propagation lives of the notched composite laminates are presented. A 3-dimensionaldamage constitutive equation of anisotropic composites is also established. Damage strain energyrelease rate is interpreted as a driving force of the fatigue delamination damage propagation. A newdamage evolution equation and a damage propagation σ_a-σ_m-N~* surface (stress amplitude-meanstress-life surface) are derived. Hence, using the method above, the fatigue life of compositecomponents can be predicted. Finally, theoretically predicted results are compared with experimentaldata. It is found that the deviation of theoretic prediction from experimental results is about22%.

Multi-objective Optimization of Co-cured Composite Laminates with Embedded Viscoelastic Damping Layer

Presented herein is a methodology for the multi-objective optimization of damping and bending stiffness of cocoured composite laminates with embedded viscoelastic damping layer. The embedded viscoelastic damping layer is perforated with a series of small holes, and the ratio of the perforation area to the total damping area is the design variable of the methodology. The multi-objective optimization is converted into a single-objective problem by an evaluation function which is a liner weigh sum of the two sub-objective functions. The proposed methodology was carried out to determine the optimal perforation area ratios of two viscoelstic layers with different perforation distance embedded in two composite plates. Both the optimal perforation area ratios are approximate to 2.2%. However, the objective value of the plate with greater perforation distance in embedded viscoelatic layer is much greater.

Evaluation of stiffness in a cellulose fiber reinforced epoxy laminates for structural applications:Experimental and finite element analysis

Natural fiber composites have been proved to have the ability to replace the synthetic fiber composites in many structural applications. Unprecedented growth in the field of computational techniques has opened the doors of analysis and simulation of composite materials under various environment.Modelling and simulation using various available softwares saves a lot of time and resources. In the present work, an attempt has been made to analyze the tensile behavior of jute fiber reinforced epoxy based polymer composite materials using the student version of commercially available finite element code Siemens PLM NX 10.0. In most of the structural applications, materials are required to have enough stiffness to resist the shape deformation under normal loading conditions. Therefore, emphasis is given to the load-deformation behavior of the developed composites. A 3-dimensional model of the test specimen was developed using ply-stacking method and the strain-stress values were verified by the available literature. The model showed a good agreement between the experimental and software results. Effect of ply angle, fiber percentage, fiber type, number of layers and weft fiber angle on the stiffness of laminate have been studied.

Extended Kantorovich method for local stresses in composite laminates upon polynomial stress functions

The extended Kantorovich method is employed to study the local stress concentrations at the vicinity of free edges in symmetrically layered composite laminates subjected to uniaxial tensile load upon polynomial stress functions. The stress fields are initially assumed by means of the Lekhnitskii stress functions under the plane strain state. Applying the principle of complementary virtual work,the coupled ordinary differential equations are obtained in which the solutions can be obtained by solving a generalized eigenvalue problem. Then an iterative procedure is established to achieve convergent stress distributions. It should be noted that the stress function based extended Kantorovich method can satisfy both the traction-free and free edge stress boundary conditions during the iterative processes. The stress components near the free edges and in the interior regions are calculated and compared with those obtained results by finite element method（FEM）. The convergent stresses have good agreements with those results obtained by three dimensional（3D） FEM. For generality, various layup configurations are considered for the numerical analysis. The results show that the proposed polynomial stress function based extended Kantorovich method is accurate and efficient in predicting the local stresses in composite laminates and computationally much more efficient than the 3D FEM.

Suppression of thermal postbuckling and nonlinear panel flutter motions of variable stiffness composite laminates using piezoelectric actuators

Variable stiffness composite laminates(VSCLs)are promising in aerospace engineering due to their designable material properties through changing fiber angles and stacking sequences.Aiming to control the thermal postbuckling and nonlinear panel flutter motions of VSCLs,a full-order numerical model is developed based on the linear quadratic regulator(LQR)algorithm in control theory,the classical laminate plate theory(CLPT)considering von Kármán geometrical nonlinearity,and the first-order Piston theory.The critical buckling temperature and the critical aerodynamic pressure of VSCLs are parametrically investigated.The location and shape of piezoelectric actuators for optimal control of the dynamic responses of VSCLs are determined through comparing the norms of feedback control gain(NFCG).Numerical simulations show that the temperature field has a great effect on aeroelastic tailoring of VSCLs;the curvilinear fiber path of VSCLs can significantly affect the optimal location and shape of piezoelectric actuator for flutter suppression;the unstable panel flutter and the thermal postbuckling deflection can be suppressed effectively through optimal design of piezoelectric patches.

Effects of Cure Pressure Induced Voids on the Mechanical Strength of Carbon/Epoxy Laminates

This work aims at designing a set of curing pressure routes to produce laminates with various void contents. The effects of various consolidation pressures resulting in different void contents on mechanical strength of carbon/epoxy laminates have been examined. Characterization of the voids, in terms of void volume fraction, void distribution, size, and shape, was performed by standard test, ultrasonic inspection and metallographic analysis. The interlaminar shear strength was measured by the short-beam method. An empirical model was used to predict the strength vs porosity. The predicted strengths conform well with the experimental data and voids were found to be uniformly distributed throughout the laminate.

Stress analysis of anisotropic thick laminates in cylindrical bending using a semi-analytical approach

Semi-analytical elasticity solutions for bending of angle-ply laminates in cylindrical bending are presented using the state-space-based differential quadrature method (SSDQM). Partial differential state equation is derived from the basic equations of elasticity based on the state space concept. Then, the differential quadrature (DQ) technique is introduced to discretize the longitu- dinal domain of the plate so that a series of ordinary differential state equations are obtained at the discrete points. Meanwhile, the edge constrained conditions are handled directly using the stress and displacement components without the Saint-Venant principle. The thickness domain is solved analytically based on the state space formalism along with the continuity conditions at interfaces. The present method is validated by comparing the results to the exact solutions of Pagano’s problem. Numerical results for fully clamped thick laminates are presented, and the influences of ply angle on stress distributions are discussed.

Lagged strain of laminates in RC beams strengthened with fiber-reinforced polymer

Based on the theory of concrete structure, a new expression was derived for lagged strain of fiber-reinforced polymer （FLIP） laminates in reinforced concrete （RC） beams strengthened with FRP. The influence of different preloaded states and nonlinear stress-strain relationship of compressed concrete were both taken into account in this approach. Then a simplified expression was given by ignoring tensile resistance of concrete. Comparison of analytical predictions with experimental results indicates satisfactory accuracy of the procedures. The errors are less than 8% and 10% respectively when the tensile resistance of concrete is or not considered. While the maximum error of existing procedures is up to 60%.

INTERLAMINAR FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF MULTI-DIRECTIONAL LAMINATES

Based on the conventional compliance and area methods, a high precision method named the angle method is presented in this work. The interlaminar fracture toughness is determined by measurement of the load and the bending angle at the loading point without measurement of the crack length, and the improvement of the conventional compliance method is made, which is more precise and can be used to general DCB specimen with unequal flexural stiffness of the cantilevers. The interlaminar fracture toughness in 0/ θ(θ =0°,30°,60°,90°) interfaces of two epoxy composites, one being the carbon fibre reinforced brittle matrix T300/4211, the other the carbon fibre reinforced tough matrix T300/3261, is measured by both compliance and angle methods, and the relationship between fracture toughness and the ply angle θ is obtained. It is found that the interlaminar fracture toughness is correlated with the type of matrix and the ply angles near the crack front.

FATIGUE LIFE PREDICTION METHOD FOR IMPACTED LAMINATES

The existing models are established based on the fatigue behavior of impacted laminates.It makes them unsuitable for the general use.So,a general 3-D progressive damage fatigue life prediction method for impacted laminates is developed based on the progressive damage theory and the fatigue behavior of unimpacted unidirectional plies.The model can predict the fatigue life of laminated composites with different ply parameters,geometry,impact damage,and fatigue loading conditions.In order to obtain the impact damage information in the case that no impact test data is available,a whole damage process analysis method for laminated composites under the impact loading and the fatigue loading is analyzed.The predicted damage statuses of composite laminates can be used to analyze the post-impact fatigue life.A parametric modeling program is developed to predict the impact damage process and the fatigue life of impacted laminates based on the whole damage process analysis method.The most relative error between the prediction and the test results is 7.78%.

Analytical solutions to edge effect of composite laminates based on symplectic dual system

In the symplectic space composed of the original variables,displacements,and their dual variables,stresses,the symplectic solution for the composite laminates based on the Pipes-Pagano model is established in this paper.In contrast to the traditional technique using only one kind of variables,the symplectic dual variables include displacement components as well as stress components.Therefore,the compatibility conditions of displacement and stress at interfaces can be formulated simultaneously.After being introduced into the symplectic dual system,the uniform schemes,such as the separation of variables and symplectic eigenfunction expansion method,can be implemented conveniently to analyze composite laminate problems.An analytical solution for the free edge effect of composite laminates is obtained,showing the effectiveness of the symplectic dual method in analyzing composite laminates.