Experimental and Simulation Study on Low-velocity Impact Damage of Composite Laminates under Temperature Environment

Abstract

The composite material casing of aero-engine operates in different temperature environments and is inevitably impacted by external objects during use. The resin matrix composite materials are sensitive to temperature, which leads to more complex damage propagation and failure modes of materials under temperature environment. The influence of temperature environment on low-velocity impact damage of composite materials needs to be studied. In this paper, the T300/QY8911 composite laminates were subjected to low-velocity impact test and simulation study under three different temperature environments of 20°C, 120°C, and 180°C. The impact damage detection was carried out by visual inspection and ultrasonic C-scan to analyze the influence of temperature on the damage of composite laminates. Finite element simulation analysis was also conducted on the gradual expansion process of impact damage of composite laminates under different temperature environments to predict the impact damage area of laminates. The results show that the main damage forms are matrix cracking and delamination and the temperature has a significant effect on the low-velocity impact damage of composite laminates. Under the same impact energy, the length of the back crack and the cracking damage of the matrix of the laminate decreases as the temperature increases; the impact damage area and the delamination damage of the laminate increases as the temperature increases.