Damage area prediction of laminated composite plates after low velocity impact in ANSYS

Composite Materials have exceptional mechanical properties that can be tailored to meet the requirements of a particular application. A serious threat to those materials in any application is liable to impact damage during service. Low velocity impact damage is regularly internal and invisible and it can significantly reduce its strength. Therefore, it is necessary to study the behaviour of laminated composite plates after impact loading. This paper deals with the impact response of glass/polyester laminated plates after low velocity impact. Impact tests were performed using a specially designed vertical drop-weight testing machine. The samples used for this study were 4 plies laminated composites. These composites were characterized by three different stacking sequences, i.e. (0/45)
_S
, (0/60)
_S
,(30
₄
), and they were compared with each other. Specimens were impacted at constant weight and different impact energies. The studies were carried out on plate dimension of 175mm × 175 mm with four sides clamped. Impact loads were applied at the center of each plate. Damage area of the plates after impact was estimated experimentally and numerically (ANSYS). (0/60)
_S
plates showed less damage area than (0/45)
_S
and (30
₄
) plates.