Abstract
Carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites used in sports products can be exposed to different in-service conditions such as large dynamic bending deformations caused by impact loading. Composite materials subjected to such loads demonstrate various damage modes such as matrix cracking, delamination and, ultimately, fabric fracture. Damage evolution affects both in-service properties and performance of CFRP that can deteriorate with time. These failure modes need adequate means of analysis and investigation, the major approaches being experimental characterisation and numerical simulations. This research deals with a deformation behaviour and damage in composite laminates due to dynamic bending. Experimental tests are carried out to characterise the behaviour of a woven CFRP material under large-deflection dynamic bending in impact tests carried out to obtain the force-time and absorbed energy profiles for CFRP laminates. Damage in the impacted laminates is analysed using optical microscopy. Numerical simulations are performed to study the deformation behaviour and damage in CFRP for cases of large-deflection bending based on three-dimensional finite-element models implemented in the commercial code Abaqus/Explicit. Multiple layers of bilinear cohesive-zone elements are employed to model the initiation and progression of inter-ply delamination observed in the microscopy studies. The obtained results of simulations show good agreement with experimental data.
Highlights
Fibre-reinforced composites such as carbon fibre-reinforced polymers (CFRP) are widely used in aerospace, automotive and construction structures due to their high specific strength and stiffness
These properties have attracted the sports industry to incorporate woven CFRP laminates in the design of sports products that could be subjected to large-deflection bending and multiple impacts in service conditions
The damage mechanisms typically caused by out-of-plane impact loads are matrix cracking, fibre breakage and delamination at interfaces within the composite structure [2]
Summary
Fibre-reinforced composites such as carbon fibre-reinforced polymers (CFRP) are widely used in aerospace, automotive and construction structures due to their high specific strength and stiffness. Woven-fabric composite laminates offer a number of attractive mechanical properties compared to their unidirectional-tape counterparts such as good resistance to fracture and transverse rupture due to weaving resistance, and high impact strength [1]. These properties have attracted the sports industry to incorporate woven CFRP laminates in the design of sports products that could be subjected to large-deflection bending and multiple impacts in service conditions. In particular, delamination occurring at low-velocity impact causes a significant decrease in the material’s in-plane compressive strength and stiffness Such internal damage mechanisms that often cannot be detected by visual inspection degrade the load bearing capacity of the structures. It is very important to study the damage suffered by the composites under impact loading conditions
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call