Characterization of a carbon fiber composite material for space applications under high strains and stresses: Modeling and validation by experiments

The authors present the characterization of the behavior of a Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) under dynamic loading. The study deals with thin shields representative of the shields employed for satellite protection. The process was divided into two steps. First, experiments over a wide scale of strain rates were performed, including planar plate impacts, electron beam shots, and laser-induced shocks. The loads generated by these experiments can be unidirectional or two-dimensional with durations from a tenth of nanoseconds up to several microseconds. Rear surface velocities were recorded by Doppler Laser Interferometry, and damaged target was recovered when possible. Analysis of these results provides data about equation of state, elasto-plasticity behavior, and the damage process. In a second part, those data were used to develop an isotropic numerical model for the CFRP composite. This model is assessed in simulations with the hydrocode HESIONE (CEA) for all the previous experiments. Although slight differences were highlighted for laser-induced shocks, the model provides relevant results for simulating dynamic behavior of the CFRP composite.