Effect of impact speed and friction on the in-plane crashworthiness of composite plates

The effectiveness of composite materials in crashworthiness applications is well-known in the literature. In most cases, the Specific Energy Absorption (SEA) of composite structures is higher than that of metallic structures, but at present there is no standard available to characterize their crash behavior. A new fixture to test flat composite samples in in-plane impact conditions has been used to investigate the effect of the impact speed and of the friction on the SEA of carbon fiber/epoxy flat plates. Tests have been carried out in impact conditions. The effect of the friction has been studied varying the clamping force given by the fixture. The force-displacement curves have been acquired in all tests and used to calculate the SEA of the material. The tested specimens have shown a splaying failure mode and values of SEA that increase with the clamping force given by the testing fixture.