Experimental and numerical investigation of the impact response of elastomer layered fiber metal laminates (EFMLs)

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of introducing an elastomer layer into conventional fiber metal laminates on their perforation resistance. Natural compounded rubber as elastomeric media and glass/epoxy composite were sandwiched in between two layers of aluminum 6061-T6 and then the resulted structure was perforated by a 10 mm diameter hemispherical projectile at different impact velocities. Residual velocities were recorded by a high speed camera via a shadowing technique. Results showed that an elastomer layer located nearer to frontal face had a better energy absorbing performance due to load spreading; besides, by increasing the impact velocity the elastomer performs more efficiently because of the elastomer damage initiation point movement toward the periphery of the stretched area. Numerical simulation of penetration process was accomplished using the advanced finite element code of LS-DYNA. Finally, a numerical parametric study was performed to assess the effect of elastomer thickness on the energy absorption efficiency (EAE) of the whole structure. Based on the obtained results, adding an elastomeric layer into the structure is more beneficial than composite thickening at the same thickness in terms of improving EAE and reducing areal density.