Journal Article

Impact Response and Damage Tolerance of Hybrid Glass/Kevlar-Fibre Epoxy Structural Composites

Berto, Filippo, Krishnamoorthy, Yoganandam, Ganesan, Velmurugan, Alagumalai, Vasudevan, Försth, Michael, Balasubramanian, Navin Kumar, Sas, Gabriel, Chanda, Avishek, Das, Oisik, Shanmugam, Vigneshwaran

2021

Overview

The present study is aimed at investigating the effect of hybridisation on Kevlar/E-Glass based epoxy composite laminate structures. Composites with 3 mm thickness and 16 layers of fibre (14 layers of E-glass centred and 2 outer layers of Kevlar) were fabricated using compression moulding technique. The fibre orientation of the Kevlar layers had 3 variations (0, 45 and 60°), whereas the E-glass fibre layers were maintained at 0° orientation. Tensile, flexural, impact (Charpy and Izod), interlaminar shear strength and ballistic impact tests were conducted. The ballistic test was performed using a gas gun with spherical hard body projectiles at the projectile velocity of 170 m/s. The pre- and post-impact velocities of the projectiles were measured using a high-speed camera. The energy absorbed by the composite laminates was further reported during the ballistic test, and a computerised tomographic scan was used to analyse the impact damage. The composites with 45° fibre orientation of Kevlar fibres showed better tensile strength, flexural strength, Charpy impact strength, and energy absorption. The energy absorbed by the composites with 45° fibre orientation was 58.68 J, which was 14% and 22% higher than the 0° and 60° oriented composites.

• Publisher: MDPI AG,MDPI
• Subject: Aramid fiber reinforced plastics / Aramid fibers / Ballistic impact tests / Byggkonstruktion / Carbon / Charpy impact testing / Composite laminate / Composite materials / Composite structures / Cost control / Damage tolerance / Energy / Energy absorption / Epoxy composite laminates / Failure / Fiber orientation / Fibre orientation / Flexural strength / Gas guns / Glass / Glass fibers / Glass-epoxy composites / High speed cameras / Impact analysis / Impact damage / Impact response / Impact strength / Impact velocity / Inter-laminar shear strengths / Interfacial shear strength / Investigations / Kevlar (trademark) / Laminated composites / Laminates / Mechanical properties / Oriented composites / Polymers / Pressure molding / Projectile velocity / Projectiles / Shear strength / Strain hardening / Structural composites / Structural Engineering / Tensile strength / Thickness / Velocity