Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Maritime and Naval Science and Engineering

The Impact Behaviour of Composite Materials

CHIRCOR MIHAEL1, DUMITRACHE RAMONA2,
DUMITRACHE COSMIN LAURENTIU3
Navigation and Maritime Transport
Constanta Maritime University
Constanta, 104 Mircea cel Batran
ROMANIA
1
mkircor@yahoo.com; 2 ramona_dumitrache05@yahoo.com;
3
cosmin_dumitrache@yahoo.com

Abstract: Compared to traditional materials (steel and its alloys), composite materials have unique advantages of
stating: high strength and stiffness - including the request variables and shock, good resistance to the environment
(temperatures, rain, UV, humidity, temperature variations, etc.) and good mechanical stability, low density, and
insulating properties and high fire, high resistance to wear and corrosion.

Key-Words: composite, test, impact, resistance, energy, strength

1 Introduction of the fibers from de matrix and to a considerable

In terms of structure, materials can be divided into
four basic categories: metals, polymers, ceramics,
composite materials. A composite structure is a
material composed of two or more phases combined
in a macroscopic scale, whose properties are
superior constituent materials, acting in an
independent manner. In other words, a composite
combining at least two different materials both
chemically and geometrically.
2 The Impact Behaviour of Composite
Materials
absorption energy. When designing the composite
materials, it is necessary to make sure that the links
between the fibers and the matrix arent too weak,
because a low shear resistance also influences in a
negative way the impact behavior.
A simple analysis method of impact properties is
the measurement of the stiffness expressed in the
necessary energy for breaking a random geometry
bar. For homogeneous and isotropic materials, Izod
(Figure 2) or Charpy conventional tests (Figure 1)
and notched bars are being used which lead to
great tension concentrations, thus minimizing the
energy necessary for breaking. These tests may be
also successfully used in the case of the composite
materials, for comparative studies.

Missile Hammer
2.1 Impact Testing Devices
Unlike metals, fiber reinforced composite materials
dont undergo plastic deformations after the impact. t Specimen
22 mm

Near the impact area may appear elastic Specimen

deformations (in the case of a low intensity impact) 40 mm t
or deteriorations of the material (the separation of
Anvil
the fibers from the matrix, matrix cracking, fiber Grip
breaking). The absorbed energy consequent to the
impact depends, among others parameters, on the
fiber resins link resistance. If this link is strong, a Fig. 1. Schematic Fig. 2 Schematic
continuous crack may spread along the material. In representation of Charpy representation of Izod
the case of a weak link, the generated crack may testing stand testing stand
have an irregular form, leading to a rapid separation

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 Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Maritime and Naval Science and Engineering
Although the deterioration mechanisms (matrix
crack, fiber separation or yield) may occur in an
independent manner, the interaction of these
factors and the fiber type, the matrix type/state and
environment state and matrix fiber links define
the impact and the possible yielding of the material
as a very complex phenomenon. There are many
methods for identifying the performances of the
composite materials on impact. Figures 3 and 4
show two devices.
Fig. 3 Low velocity impact device used
for pre-stressed composite materials
Fig. 4 Blast gun for vmed of
pre-stressed composite materials
The various ways of breaking lead to various
unconventional types of mechanisms related to the
absorbed energy during material yielding on
impact. The breaking manners and accordingly the
absorbed energies are influenced by factors, such
as: fiber orientation, bar geometry, impact velocity,
etc. A widely used test in the case of impact
behavior study of composite plates is the drop-
weight test, where the bar placed on a rigid stand is
hit by a body with known weight which falls down
from a certain height. This height may vary in
order to obtain de desired impact velocity.
In Figure 5 is showed an impact stress device for
fiber reinforced multilayer composite materials, in
accordance to the 04.26.383 IGC standard for
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testing the unidirectional or canvas fiber reinforced
multilayer composite materials on low velocity
impact. These tests can be run on various energy
levels, thus obtaining: the delaminated surface
area; the depth of the missile mark; the residual
traction resistance after the impact.
Semi-spherical
missile
Guiding
Kerfs
column
Supporting
elements
Bracing
columns
Bracing
frames
Base
plate
Fig. 5 Impact stress device
The device has a compact structure consisting in a
OL37 rectangular stand plate having the
dimensions of 500 x 300 x 20 [mm]. The plate is
provided with a window of 350 x 200 [mm] in
dimensions. The bar plate, with dimensions of
300 x 150 [mm] is provided with four holes of 7
in the corners, which insure the grip on the base
plate through a frame. The impact is obtained
using a missile with a mass varying from 3 to 6 kg,
which is lead in a 1,65 m long cylindrical column.
In order to obtain various energy levels, the
leading column is provided with 10 equidistant
holes for retaining the missile at different heights.
When the retainer is removed, the missile slides
and hits the bar which is stuck on the plate. The
missile has the length of 195 mm and is made of a
cylindrical body with a 50 mm diameter which
continues with a semispherical area with the radius
of 8 mm. The obtained energy levels vary from 5
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 Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Maritime and Naval Science and Engineering
to 95 J. In order to obtain lower energies (115
J), a smaller size missile could be used (1 kg mass
and 10 mm semispherical radius). The device
prevents the multiple impact.
Phase of
Phase of
breakage brakage
initiation spreading
Load P
Ei Ep
Time [t]
Fig. 6 The phenomenon which appears during the
impact
2.2 The Impact Energy
The phenomenon which occurs during the impact,
according to the various loads, is showed by Figure
6.
The force time diagram can be split in two
phases: one, when the breakage begins and the
second when the breakage is spreading. As the
load increases during phase one, the elastic
deformation energy is gathered in the bar,
subsequently leading to a microscopic scale
breakage. At the same time, yielding mechanisms
at a microscopic level can occur (micro-buckling
of the fiber on the compressed side, link breaking
in the fiber matrix interface, etc.)
When the critical load is reached at the end of the
first phase, the composite material bar may yield
due to the traction or shear breakage, depending on
the relative values of the inter-laminar traction or
the shear resistance. Once reached this point, the
spreading of the breakage may take place in a
catastrophic way as in the case of fragile
materials (at high loads) or in a progressive way
by keeping on absorbing the energy (at low loads).
The total impact energy Et registered on the
testing device or by an oscilloscope (on the energy
time variation diagram) during loading consists
of Ei initiating energy and Ep spreading energy.
The fragile materials are defined by high values of
the breakage initiation energy and by low values of
the breakage spreading energy, while tough
materials are defined by a low breakage initiation
energy and by a high spreading energy. Giving the
fact that after summarization fragile and tough
materials may have total impact energies
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comparable as size, knowing the total energy is not
enough for explaining material behavior during
breaking. In order to establish the E energy
absorbed by the bar, based on impact experimental
data, the following formula is often used:
E = Ea(1- Ea/4E0), (1)
where Ea is the energy registered by the
oscilloscope on the energy time diagram and Eo is
defined by the following formula:
Eo = mv2/2, (2)
where vo is the initial impact rate.
2.3 The Influence of Various Parameters on
Impact Properties
Using the devices showed in Figures 3 and 4, Jain
L.K and Yiu-Wing Mai have tested the impact
behaviour of the panels made from a small number
of fiber glass or phenolic resins layers at firs not
subjected to any traction and afterwards subjected
to traction and compression forces with imposed
deformations of 0,5%, using low speeds (a few
m/s), medium speeds (3-200 m/s) and high speeds
(over 900 m/s, energy impact higher than 2,69 kJ).
Before being tested the panels were analyzed using
an undestructive control method (ultrasound
scanning) in order to track down delamination or
the presence of some faults. After impact, the
assays were visually analyzed and part of them
were analyzed by ultrasounds in order to track
down the delamination spreading. Comparative
measurements were made at various positive and
negative pre-deformation grades.
Generally, the impact with or without imposed
deformations leads to the appearance of some
delamination, fiber fractures and, sometimes,
material perforations caused by the bullet. The
deteriorations are analyzed by the width of the
delaminated area, indicated after the ultrasound
scanning. These attempts show that on impact
stresses simultaneously made with a bar pre-
deformation, smaller breakage deformations were
obtained in comparison to the impact followed by a
traction/compression stress (Figure 7.).
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 Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Maritime and Naval Science and Engineering
Fig. 7 Delamination area depending on
extension / compression pre-deformation
Fig. 8 A few impact resistances
Low velocity impact resistance. Measurements
made with the C scanner indicate a slight increase
in traction pre-stressed row material deteriorations
and a considerably increase in compression
stressed carbon fiber reinforced composite
materials deteriorations (Figure 7). For all carbon
fiber types, the obtained deteriorations decrease as
the resins stiffness increases. For a 1,75 ms-1 strain
rate and a 5J energy, residual deformation of XAS
carbon fiber composite materials decreases as the
pre-tension increases, the same happening to a
composite material made of fiberglass canvas
enclosed in a phenolic resin or to a Kevlar
composite bar, though glass-epoxy bars have a
high deformability before they break. On
compression, in the case of carbon fiber composite
materials, is shown a decrease of the properties
comparing to the others two (R glass and XAS)
where no change was observed after the
compression pre-stressing. Fiberglass enclosed
ceramic matrix composite material also undergoes
changes on compression pre-stressing.
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Medium velocity impact resistance. Measurements
obtained by C ultrasound scanning showed that
row materials dont change after traction pre-
stressing, while Kevlar and carbon fiber composite
materials are considerably changed after
compression pre-stressing. Also, carbon fiber
composite materials considerably depend on
resins stiffness: the matrix gets stiffer as the
delamination rate decreases. In the case of an
impact with an 2.8 J and 80 m/s energy, after a
traction pre-stressing, the performance of carbon
fiber composite material considerably depends on
fiber resistance because, if the fiber resistance gets
higher, the material will have a better behaviour.
Also, IMS and HTA carbon-epoxy fibers have an
increased sensibility to compression pre-stress.
High velocity impact resistance. The impact with
high speeds has been tested on a small number of
test-pieces. The high speeds tests show that the
fiberglass multilayered materials undergo a much
bigger delamination than carbon or Kevlar fibers
but, when they are subjected to an impact with a
5,56 mm perforating bullets/ missiles, they absorb
twice the energy. The impact with a speed of 1,4
km/s on a prestressed bar showed major composite
deterioration leading to the perforation of the
entire plate.
When using thin multilayered materials with high
rigidity fibers, the deteriorations occurring after the
impact can be very serious. Although some factors
(fiber orientation, type of canvas, etc.) may
seriously affect the impact resistance, the carbon is
often used in combinations with one or more types
of fiber in engineering structures stressed on severe
impact. For example, the hybrid canvas where at
least two types of fibers are bonded in the same
matrix. The Figure 1.8. shows comparative impact
resistance of some fiber reinforced multilayered
composite materials, often used in the industry
field.
The impact behaviour of fiber reinforced
composite materials had been studied using a
standard Charpy impact device, which provided
the first very useful results. For a fiber reinforced
polymeric composite material it had been shown
that its impact behavior depends on time, which is
the speed that the hammer has when it hits the bar.
Rotem and Lifschitz proved that the tensile
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strength of a fiber reinforced composite material of Mallick and Broutman obtained on cross linked
increases as the strain rate increases, on fiber fiber composite materials are showed in Figure 10.
direction. Later, Broutman made some attempts On the line which indicates the influence of fiber
regarding the impact on fiberglass and polymeric orientation on the absorbed energy, a symmetry can
resins or epoxy reinforced composite materials or be seen with respect to the 45 direction, where the
on graphite, glass and Kevlar fiber hybrid chart reaches a minimum value.
composite materials using a device endowed with
an impactor by varying some parameters. The
plates on which the attempts were made are
unidirectional fiber composite materials or cross
linked fiber oriented at 0 and 90.
During these attempts the following parameters
have been modified: fiber orientation, impact rate,
the impact velocity, missiles weight, the bars
dimensions, height of fall.
One of the important parameters which affect the
composite materials behavior on impact is the fiber
orientation. The effect of the fibers orientation
angle on the impact of composite materials has
been investigated by Mallick and Broutman, on E-
glass epoxy multilayered materials. The exact
configuration of the composite materials was
[0/90/04]s, respectively [(0/90)3/0]s.
Each of the two configurations was made of 13
layers of 0,25 mm. The rectangular bars were cut
so that the fibers from the external layers formed
0, 15, 45, 75 and 90 angles, in the longitudinal
direction (Fig. 9). In all these cases, the loading has
been made perpendicularly on the multilayered
materials plan. The absorbed energy related to
multilayered material width dependent on the fiber
orientation direction is showed in Figure 10.

b y
l

h x
L/2 L/2
z

Fig. 9 Impact test schematization

Its been showed that the lowest value appears
when the fiber orientation direction is 60.
However, the results obtained by Agarwal and
Narangs on a Charpy impact device showed that in
the case of composite materials with unidirectional
fibers, the impact energy decreases as the fiber
orientation direction increases. The minimum
impact energy appeared at 90 angles. The results
Fig. 10 The influence of fiber
orientation on the absorbed energy by an
unidirectional glass-epoxy, respectively a
cross linked composite material [0,90]
Another important parameter is the interface
strength between fiber and matrix, which
intensively affects the breakage of the composite
materials breakage.

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 Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Maritime and Naval Science and Engineering
Yeung and Broutman varied the interface conditions
modifying the surface treatment of the fiberglass
canvas. For the matrix, polyester or epoxy resins
have been chosen. In order to determine the fiber
matrix interface strength, its apparent shear strength
was measured. In the case of the composite material
with polyester matrix it had been shown that the
inter-phase strength may have various values
depending on the chemical bounding agent between
fiber and matrix, applied on fibers surface. On
epoxy matrix composite materials the inter-phase
strength cant vary because the epoxy resins are
capable to create a strong link between fiber and
matrix, even if the bounding agent is missing. The
results of impact tests made on Charpy device for
epoxy and polyester composite materials are
showed in Figure 11, where the impact energies
values (initial, spreading, total) on surface unit,
U1i = Ei/bh , U1p = Ep/bh , U1t = Et/bh , (3)
are calculated according to the apparent shear
resistance. It can be easily noticed that the specific
energy increases as the shear resistance of the
polyester and epoxy multilayer materials increases.
At the same time, the bending resistance of the
multilayer materials increases, thus showing a very
good inter-phase bond as well as high values for the
inter-laminar tensions. The impact energies
necessary for breakage have higher values for the
epoxy matrix multi-layered materials as compared
to the ones with polyester matrix.
Fig. 11 The influence of fiber matrix interface strength on
impact energy of glass-polyester composite materials.
In the case of polymer multilayered materials, the
spreading and total impact energy lines show a
minimum. At lower values of apparent shear
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strength (approximately 5 ksi) delamination is
proved to be the principal way of subsidence of
multilayered materials. So, in the case of polyester
multilayered materials, the total impact strength
may be increased by decreasing the inter-phase
links. It can be observed the fact that the highest
value of the impact strength is reached when the
shear strength is minimum.
The breakage initiation needs a much lower energy
when the inter-phase link is weak, the maximum
value of this energy being reached during
delamination, which appears after the breakage
initiation in the multilayered materials. The bar
supports a much lower capacity during spread but
all this time it absorbs a much bigger amount of
energy because of the great distortions which may
appear. In the case of the epoxy multilayered
materials the inter-phase link is not so decreased as
to induce a drastic delamination in the composite
material. So, in the case of polyester matrix
multilayered materials, at higher values than the
critical shear strength necessary for reaching the
minimum value of the impact energy, this energy
increases as the interlaminar shear strength
increases. The way that the epoxy matrix breaks is
mainly the result of the fibers fracture.
3 Conclusion
In many cases, using composites is more efficient.
For example, in the highly competitive market, one
is continuously looking for ways to lower the
overall mass of the craft without decreasing the
stiffness and strength of its components. This is
possible by replacing conventional metal alloys
with composite materials. Even if the composite
material costs may be higher, the reduction in the
number of parts in an assembly and the savings in
fuel costs make them more profitable.
These may include improved strength, stiffness,
fatigue and impact resistance, thermal conductivity,
corrosion resistance, etc.
References:
1. A.F. Avila et al., International Journal of Impact
Engineering 34 40, 2007, pp. 2841
2. Agarwal, B.D., Broutman, L.J., Analysis and
performance of Fiber Composites, New York, Wiley,
1990
3. Aymerich F, Onnis R, Priolo P., Analysis of the
fracture behaviour of a stitched single-lap joint
composites, 2005;36(5):603 - 14
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