Characterization of the residual mechanical properties of woven fabric reinforced composites after low-velocity impact

An investigation is undertaken to examine the residual mechanical properties of crowfoot-weave carbon/epoxy laminates subjected to a transverse central low-velocity impact load. It is found that the residual strength and stiffness of impacted laminates decrease with increasing impact damage area. Experimental data indicates that flexural stress constitutes the basis of a failure criterion that also describes damage severity, if localized damage at the region of impact is not serious. By formulating a simple model involving the motion of a rigid impactor, together with fundamental stress analysis of a transversely loaded plate, the effects of impactor mass, impact velocity, impactor tip radius, laminate thickness and lay-up on low-velocity impact damage are identified. Based on the experimental observations, it is found that the residual mechanical properties can be approximated by a linear relationship with a single damage severity parameter Q, where Q is a function of incident impact energy, impactor tip radius and laminate thickness. The theoretical results are verified by experimental data.