Experimental analysis of ice sphere impacts on unidirectional carbon/epoxy laminates. (October 2016) - Pernas-Sánchez, J.
Highlights: The main failure mechanism that appears in the composite panels is delamination. Most of the panels exhibit no-delaminated or almost full delaminated area. A dimensionless variable that describes the influence of parameters is presented. Abstract: This work analyses the behaviour of carbon/epoxy unidirectional laminates subjected to high velocity impacts of ice spheres. To this end, ice projectiles were launched against composite laminates in a wide range of velocities ( 50 − 250 m / s ). Two different ice diameters (40 and 50 mm ) and two laminate thicknesses (4 and 6 mm ) were considered. The internal damage was measured using both destructive and non-destructive techniques, which allow an accurate quantification of the delaminated area. Finally the influence of the different parameters considered on the damage of the laminate is analysed by means of a dimensionless variable.