Drop-weight impact damage evaluation for carbon fiber/epoxy composite laminates

탄소 섬유강화 복합재료의 중력 낙하 충격으로 인한 손상 평가

Drop weight impact tests were performed to investigate the impact behavior of carbon fiber/epoxy composite laminates reinforced by short fibers and other interleaving materials. Characterization techniques, such as cross-sectional fractography and scanning acoustic microscopy, were employed quantitatively to assess the internal damage of some composite laminates. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe impact damage and fracture modes on specimen fracture surfaces. The results show that composite laminates experience various types of fracture; delamination, intra-ply cracking, matrix cracking and fiber breakage depending on the interlayer materials. Among the composite laminates tested in this study, the composites reinforced by Zylon fibers showed very good impact damage resistance with medium level of damage, while the composites interleaved by poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) (PEEA) film is expected to deteriorate the bulk strength due to the reduction of fiber volume fraction, even though the damaged area is significantly reduced.