Abstract
Damage initiation and growth as well as dynamic response of laminated polymer composite plates were investigated with the effect of Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) when they were subjected to impact loading. The E-glass composite plates were clamped along the boundaries and impact loading was applied from a specially designed vertical drop-impact testing machine while the plates were surrounded by either water or air. The damage and transient responses such as force- and strain-time history were measured during the progressive impact tests, and the test data collected from either impact in air or under water were compared to determine the effect of FSI. The study showed that FSI was generally detrimental to composite plates because of the hydrodynamic mass effect so that damage occurred at a lower impact force for the composite plate submerged in water. The strain measure also suggested that the FSI effect varied from location to location of the plate surface. Additionally, the FSI effect yielded a significant change in the strain response in terms of both magnitude and shape in time history for the plate in water along with progressive damage. In summary, it is essential to include the FSI effect for design and analysis of composite structures when they are in contact with water.
Highlights
Polymer composite materials have been used increasingly to structural components in both commercial and military applications
The objective of this study is to investigate the transient dynamic response of as well as damage initiation and growth in laminated E-glass composite plates with FluidStructure Interaction (FSI) as the structures are subjected to progressively higher impact load
The study showed that the added mass effect of FSI has a significant influence on dynamic response as well as damage initiation and growth of the composite plate
Summary
Polymer composite materials have been used increasingly to structural components in both commercial and military applications. When specific strength and stiffness are major concerns, polymer composite materials have been common choices. There has been growing use of composites in ship masts, superstructures, deck grates, piping, ducting, rudders, propellers, stacks, and various submarine structures [1]. Shock and impact are common dynamic loading to structures. Polymer composite structures have been studied for such dynamic loading to understand their structural integrity and damage process. Most intensive studies have been conducted for lowvelocity impact damage in composite structures. Since there are so many publications in the subject area, several of them are just listed in the reference [2,3,4,5,6]
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