Comparative study of damage behavior of synthetic and natural ber-reinforced brittle composite and natural ber-reinforced exible composite subjected to low-velocity impact

Abstract

In the present study, a comparative study of the damage behavior of Glass-Epoxy (GE), Jute-Epoxy (JE) laminates with [0=90]s orientation, and Jute-Rubber-Jute (JRJ) sandwich is carried out by ABAQUS/CAE nite element software. The GE, JE laminate, and JRJ sandwich with a thickness rate of 2 mm are impacted by a hemispherical-shaped impactor at a velocity of 2.5 m/s. The mechanisms by which the brittle laminate gets damaged are analyzed in accordance with Hashin's 2D failure criterion, and exible composites are analyzed by the ductile damage mechanism. The absorbed energy and the incipient point of each laminate were compared. According to the results, there was no evidence of delamination in JRJ as opposed to GE and JE. The compliant nature of a rubber plays a role in absorbing more energy, which is slightly higher than the energy absorbed in GE. Moreover, it was observed that there was no incipient point in JRJ sandwich, meaning that there was no cracking of matrix since the rubber was elastic material. Thus, the JRJ material can be a better substitute for GE laminate in low-velocity applications. The procedure proposed for the analysis in the present study can serve as a benchmark method for modeling the impact behavior of composite structures in further investigations. © 2020 Sharif University of Technology. All rights reserved.