SIMULATING IMPACT PERFORMANCE OF COMPOSITES

摘要

With the increasing use of advanced composites in the aerospace, automotive, marine, and railindustries, the need to accurately simulate the impact performance of composite structures isneeded. Impact simulation has become very accurate for metal structures due to the extensivetesting and simulation activities in the Automotive industry for crash performance. Impactperformance with composites is more difficult to predict due to the non-homogeneous nature ofcomposites and the brittle material properties of the constituents. For accuracy, the performanceof the composite has to be analyzed at the micromechanical level as well as the macro levelwhich poses unique challenges. This paper will present the results of the analysis of a compositestructure combining a finite element model configured for an impact analysis with amicromechanical model to predict damage at the fiber-matrix level. Lessons learned andrecommendations for future improvements in the analysis of composite structures under impactloading will be reviewed.