Influence of Hole Distance on Low Velocity Impact Damage

This work addresses the influence of the distance between a hole and the point of impact on low velocity impact damage on cross-ply carbon-epoxy laminates. Experimental tests were performed on plates without and with holes located at different distances relatively to impact point. Internal damage was assessed by means of the C-Scan technique in order to identify the influence of holes on induced internal damage. A three-dimensional numerical analysis including cohesive zone modelling was performed to evaluate the damage mechanism and to verify how it is affected by the holes distance. It was verified that a hole at a given distance from the impact point induces asymmetric damage, whose profile and size depend on the referred distance. On the other hand, symmetrical damage outline was obtained for a plate without hole and a plate with a centred hole. The model captures accurately the essence of the damage phenomenon and provided a thorough insight about the interaction of the hole presence on damage pattern.