Anti-penetration response and response mechanism of laminated structures made of different composite materials under impact load

Composite laminated structures are often subjected to high-speed impact from external objects in high impact environments, resulting in unpredictable forms of damage and even uncontrollable damage modes. To ensure the safety and reliability of these structures, research was conducted on the anti-penetration response and response mechanism of laminated structures made of different composite materials. Using carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminated structures and glass fiber/epoxy resin composite aluminum alloy (GLARE) laminated structures as research objects, a high-impact experimental setup was constructed based on a first-stage light gas gun to explore the relationship between the energy absorption characteristics and impact energy of composite laminates. Combined with the ballistic limit equations, the ballistic limit values of the composite laminated structures were determined, and the ballistic limits of the 2 mm thick CFRP laminated structure and the 2 mm thick GLARE laminated structure were 138.3 m/s and 215.6 m/s, respectively. The damage modes of CFRP laminated structure are mainly fiber fracture on the impact surface and fiber delamination, fiber tensile fracture and fiber bundle splitting on the back surface, while the damage modes of GLARE laminated structure are mainly plastic deformation, internal fiber fracture and crack extension at the penetration. At the same time, the cohesion unit is introduced to carry out numerical simulation research, which shows that the damage pore morphology of the cohesion unit between layers of composite laminated structures are closely related to their fiber layups, and the damage mode of cohesion unit between layers of composite laminated structures have been investigated, which reveals the damage mechanism in high-impact environments. The research results provide theoretical basis and common technical support for reverse design of composite laminated structures suitable for high impact environments.