Experimental investigation on the compression‐after‐double‐impact behaviors of <scp>GFRP</scp> laminates embedded with aluminum mesh

Abstract Drawing inspiration from carp scales to manufacture specimens, we investigated the effect of embedding aluminum mesh on the two‐point low‐velocity impact (LVI) and compression‐after‐double‐impact (CAI) behavior of glass fiber‐reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminates, fabricated via the hot‐pressing process, varying lay‐up angle of both fiber and aluminum mesh. INSTRON 9340 performs LVI loading tests at the same impact distance and with four different incidence energies. Further, in addition to their post‐impact damage characterized by an ultrasonic C‐scan, their failure evolution of compression after impact was presented according to strain contour obtained from the digital image correlation (DIC) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) technique. After comparing the response history and damage morphology of various panels, it was found that the addition of aluminum mesh could improve the ductility of the panels and promote their performance in low‐velocity impact events. This enhancement stems from the ability of the ductile aluminum mesh net to effectively absorb and redistribute impact energy in the vicinity of the impact point. It is noteworthy that the damaged area of specimens with different layup angles following low‐velocity impact exhibits the following pattern: VG8VAl &gt; VG8IAl &gt; IG8IAl. Highlights Mechanical behavior on two‐point LVI test of laminates varying layup angles. The LVI and CAI performance was analyzed by C‐scan, SEM, and DIC. Compressive failure mode is brittle fracture at the impact area. The resin fills holes in the aluminum mesh to improve sample impact property. Laminates with aluminum mesh have less damage but a larger damage area.