Numerical study of the simultaneous multiple impact phenomenon on CFRP plates

Abstract

Composite laminates are currently used in various fields of engineering, in which they can be subjected to multiple impacts, reducing their service life. Typical examples of these phenomena are found in the high-speed rail industry. Several works have focused on this topic, but very few have exposed a methodology that verifies the existence of stress wave interaction, produced by the action of several projectiles that impact on a structure simultaneously. Therefore, this work aims to study the multiple impact response of composite laminates, as well as the influence of stress waves on their mechanical behaviour. For this purpose, a numerical multiple impact model was developed. This numerical model was validated with single impact experimental results taken from the literature. It was observed that the presence of more than one projectile in the impact event reduced the ballistic limit of composite laminate. Finally, it was concluded that stress waves influenced the impact response of CFRP plates.