Dynamic penetration of alumina/aluminum laminates: experiments and modeling

The effects of structural layering and thermal residual stresses on impact resistance of alumina/aluminum laminated structures were investigated. Two multilayered structures of different layer thicknesses were manufactured. Two different bonding techniques were used to bond these laminates producing four different structures. One bonding process was cured at room temperature, and the other was cured at a high temperature to induce thermal residual stresses in the alumina layers. Laminates were impact tested between 100 and 300 m/s. Dynamic impact experiments showed that the thick layer laminates allowed less penetration than the thin layer laminates. The effect of thermal residual stresses on impact performance was minor. Finite element models using ABAQUS/Explicit successfully simulated the impact, and several parametric studies were completed. The performance of the laminates was highly dependent on the yield strength of the aluminum layers. At increased velocity the thick layer laminate continued to outperform the thin layer laminate in the finite element simulations.