The comparison of the veritable response to impact load of conventional and Thin-Ply types of fibre metal laminates

Abstract

Impact resistance is one of the critical issues for thin-walled structures made of composite materials used e.g. in aerospace fuselage elements. There are two strategies to improve the impact behaviour of composites. One of them involves thin-ply technology, and the second employs fibre metal laminates. The aim of this paper is to explain the response of Aluminium/Thin-Ply-Glass laminates to a wide range of impact energies in comparison with conventional Aluminium/Glass laminates by using deep and multi-criteria experimental evaluation. As demonstrated, the failure mechanisms are similar for both types of laminates. However, the noted differences in the order and importance of individual failure modes may affect damage propagation. The major factor of the earlier perforation initiation process of thin-ply FMLs in comparison to conventional FMLs is the domination of bending stress instead of tensile stress.