Abstract
Explicit numerical studies were conducted to determine the transverse impact response of graphene panels. Although the mechanical properties of graphene are well documented in both quasi-static and dynamic conditions via nano- and microscopic studies, the impact behaviour of the material at the macroscale has not yet been studied and would provide interesting and crucial insight in to the performance of the material on a more widely recognizable scale. Firstly, a numerical impact model was validated against an analytical impact model based on continuum mechanics which showed good correlation between contact-force histories. The performance of graphene panels subjected to impact was compared to the performance of panels composed of aerospace-grade aluminium and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite. The graphene panel was found to exhibit lower specific energy than aluminium and CFRP at the low-energy range due to its inherently superior stiffness and intrinsic strength. On the other hand, the ballistic limit of 3 mm thick graphene panels was found to be 3375 m/s, resulting in an impact resistance 100 times greater than for aluminium or CFRP, making graphene the most suitable material for high-velocity impact protection.
Highlights
Graphene is a two-dimensional allotrope of carbon with a hexagonal honeycomb nanostructure at such a minute scale that magnification of 280 million times is required for visualisation [1]
The same figure shows a ballistic limit of 107 m/s for a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) panel taken from the work of López-Puente et al [38]
A detailed analysis was conducted on the transverse impact response of graphene panels at the macro-scale using a combination of explicit finite element
Summary
Graphene is a two-dimensional allotrope of carbon with a hexagonal honeycomb nanostructure at such a minute scale that magnification of 280 million times is required for visualisation [1]. Due to the ability of graphene to delocalise the stress caused by impact, it was found that the penetration energy of their multilayer graphene specimens was comparatively 8 to 12 times higher than that of steel This they attributed to the ductility of the material where a relatively wide penetration hole is produced during impact. Bizao et al [18] found that several numerical and experimental papers in the past had significantly different results, especially in terms of the specific energy absorption of graphene specimens with differing numbers of layers (single-layer or multilayer). Many analytical studies have resulted from this experimental and numerical research on the impact response of graphene This was due to the inability of previous analytical models to consider the non-local vibrations for each vibrational mode. Analyses are conducted by employing dynamic explicit solvers ABAQUS and Ls-Dyna, alongside the multi-paradigm computing environment in MATLAB
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