Comparing Damage in CFRP Laminates due to Soft Body and Hard Body Impacts

Abstract

We investigated the damage characteristics in carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) laminates impacted by soft body and hard body projectiles launched by an air gun. Three kinds of silicone rubber were used as soft body projectiles to investigate the damage resulting from soft body impact that includes material non-linearity and large deformation. Plastic and metallic materials were used as hard body projectiles. From the C-scan images obtained with a scanning acoustic microscope after the tests, we found that the damage mechanism of CFRP laminates in the soft body and hard body impacts was the same. The maximum impact force for each projectile was computed based on the energy balance model and the fundamental hydrodynamics. From this analysis, we found that there is a critical impact force for the delamination initiation and that it is independent of the material properties of the projectiles.