The oblique impact response of composite sandwich plates

The following work focus on the experimental study of low-velocity oblique impact on composite sandwich plates. Several impact angles and impact energies are selected to study their influence on the maximum contact force, maximum contact time, absorbed energy, maximum displacement of the impactor, and damaged area. Peak load and energy absorption rise with increasing impact energy and impact angle, while the contact time remains almost constant. No major differences in the results are shown for impact angles lower than 15 degrees. In addition, a numerical model is developed to reproduce the experimental results and study the evolution of the main impact results for impact angles difficult to perform experimentally (up to 50 degrees). A good correlation has been found in terms of peak force and contact time, allowing further analysis of the maximum contact force at higher impact angles. Maximum contact force decreases with increasing impact angles, whereas it increases with impact energy until a certain value in which remains almost constant. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.