Study of Low-Velocity Impact Damage in Composite Laminates Based on Crack Energy

In this paper, the overall mechanical response of composite laminates with different structural orientations in low-velocity impacts is discussed using a combination of finite element simulations and experiments. In this process, the crack dissipation energy combined with absorbed energy is proposed as the damage index to evaluate the degree of the plate’s impact damage. Both the impact energy and the crack energy calculated from the experimental primary damage energy are verified. The results show that with the increase in the impact energy, the primary damage mode changes, which changes the crack-absorbed energy accordingly as well as the stiffness and load-bearing capacity of the plate structure during the impact process. This index can not only be used to characterize the performance of cracks in the overall damage but can also predict the damage state of the plate and plain weave fabric.