Investigating the deflection of GLARE and CARALL laminates under low-velocity impact test, experimentally and FEM simulation

The main objective of this article is to investigate the response of different fiber metal laminates subjected to low velocity impact experimentally and numerically via finite element method (FEM). Hence, two different fiber metal laminate (FML) samples (GLARE/CARALL) are made of 7075-T6 aluminum sheets and polymeric composites reinforced by E-glass/carbon fibers. In order to study the responses to the low velocity impacts, samples are tested by drop weight machine. The projectiles are released from 1-and 1.5-meters height were the speed reaches to 4.42 and5.42 meter per second and the impact energies are measured as 6.7 and 10 Joules. In addition to experimental study, finite element simulation is done and results are compared. Finally, a detailed study on the maximum deflection, delamination and damages in laminates and geometry's effect of projectiles on the laminate response is done. Results show that maximum deflection caused by spherical projectile for GLARE samples is more apparent in comparison with the CARALL samples. Moreover, the maximum deflection of GLARE samples subjected to spherical projectile with 6.7 Joules impact energy, 127% increases in comparison with the CARALL samples in spite of different total thickness.

Automated summary

The main objective of this article is to investigate the response of different fiber metal laminates to low velocity impact experimentally and numerically via FEM. Two different FML samples (GLARE/CARALL) made of 7075-T6 aluminum sheets and polymeric composites reinforced by E-glass/carbon fibers are tested by drop weight machine. The maximum deflection, delamination and damages in laminates and geometry's effect of projectiles on the laminate response are studied. Results show that GLARE samples have a more apparent maximum deflection compared to CARALL samples.