Compression-After-Impact analysis of carbon/epoxy and glass/epoxy hybrid composite laminate with different ply orientation sequences

This article is a continuation study of the LVI and CAI response of the plain carbon fiber composite laminates and explores the experimental & numerical study of the post-impact damage propagation in carbon/epoxy and glass/epoxy hybrid laminate under compression. LVI (Low-Velocity Impact) tests are first carried out at three different energy levels, and the same specimens are put under a displacement-controlled compression test. The damage initiation and propagation in both impact tests and compression tests are studied using X-ray computed tomography. The results matched well with the results obtained from the finite element model, simulated using ABAQUS/explicit. The effect of the changing impact energy and the influence of the stacking orientation on post-impact damage propagation is studied. The strain maps during the compression tests are studied through Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique based on which the stress–strain histories are plotted by using well-calibrated strain values. Upon completing the study, it is observed that the CAI (Compression-After-Impact) strength depends on the factors like properties of the constituent material, ply orientations and stacking sequence of the laminate. It is observed that even when the damage is barely visible on the surface of the specimen, compressive strength has been reduced drastically. The observed mode of damage propagation in CAI testing is buckling of the sub-laminates in the vicinity of the damage zone formed by the impact event. The size of the impact damage zone depends on the impact energy, which actually governs the CAI strength.