Explicit numerical modeling assessment of basalt reinforced composites for low-velocity impact

Abstract

Several studies have been carried out lately in order to evaluate the low-velocity impact response of polymeric composite materials allying experimental tests to numerical simulations. The many distinct ways of performing such analyze in the literature have raised the dubiousness on which are the most suitable simulation guidelines to perform a computational analysis that is both faithful to experimental tests as it can get, and at the same time is numerically-efficient dispensing excessively complex virtual models. Thus, the present study aims at defining the most appropriate guidelines to model a basalt fibre reinforced laminate when subjected to falling weight impact tests, comparing experimental results with explicit simulations that consider models with different numbers of plies and focusing on the calibration of essential parameters inherent of the constitutive equations attributed to the material. A precise yet intelligible model was constituted not only generating a correlation of over 97% to experimental data, but also accurately reproducing the indentation, showing that with an adequate modeling routine it is possible to numerically reproduce low-velocity impact tests on polymeric composites with a simplified virtual geometry.