Impact of brittle composites: Peridynamics modelling

Abstract Ceramic composites are used in such industries as the armaments industry, aviation, automotive, nuclear power, and space exploration. In several areas, they stand for the source of technological progress. The material is often subjected to extreme loads, such as variable dynamic loads and high temperatures. Peridynamics is a non-local, meshless quite recently formulated method of stress analysis. The methods appear to be useful in the analysis of brittle materials. In the paper, an impact model of an Al2O3/ZrO2 a thin plate is investigated. A brittle damage model is used for both phases of the composite. The attention is focused on damage initiation and distribution in the impacting sample.