Strain concentration during the compression of a carbon/epoxy composite after impact

Polymer composite panels are widely used in aeronautic and aerospace structures due to the high strength-to-weight ratios of these structures. The purpose of this paper is to determine the strain fields and failure mechanisms during the failure of the impacted composite laminates when subjected to compression.

A series of compression-after-impact (CAI) tests was performed on composite plates 150×100×4 mm3 made of a carbon-fibre-reinforced epoxy resin matrix. A digital image correlation and fractographic analysis by means of optical and electron microscopy are used for this purpose.

The full-field strain measurements indicate a concentrated band of compressive strain near the impact, where buckling occurs. The results indicate that the strain concentration factor can be considered to be a failure criterion. The shear strain visualisation around the impact reveals an area of heterogeneous deformation that is comparable to the detected delamination area acquired by an ultrasonic technique. Fibre and inter-fibre fractures are described for the particular impact site regions.

These experiments could improve numerical models for the CAI analyses and help to build a new criterion for this severe failure mode.