Face-on and Edge-on Impact Response of Composite Laminates

This paper presents comprehensive experimental and numerical studies on the face-on and edge-on impact behavior of composite laminates. Experimental work is focused on finding the impact energy limits for barely visible impact damage (BVID) when a laminated composite plate is impacted either on its face or an edge. High-fidelity finite element analysis (FEA) model utilizing Enhanced Schapery theory (EST) combined with Discrete Cohesive Zone Model (DCZM) is developed to predict the response of the laminated composite plate subjected to face-on and edge-on impact loading. Predictions from the proposed high-fidelity FEA model are compared against experimental data and it is shown that the numerical results agree well with the test data.