Contact impact techniques for the study of impacted laminated structures

A contact impact technique development in relation to the numerical structure used and the experimental observations is proposed for the study of impacted laminated structures. Four aspects of this development are discussed. The first one is a presentation of the experimental conclusions resulting from the study of particular laminated test plates under impact loading. The second presents the numerical frame where contact techniques are developed. The third step details the conditions of contact and their expression in an explicit finite element code by means of a contact model using the Lagrange multipliers technique. The fourth step is the modeling of the delamination between layers as a lack of contact set off a mixed criterion matrix-cracking/interfacial forces. Numerical results on a glass-epoxy [04/902/04] laminates impacted at 27 J are in good agreement with experimental observations.