Numerical-experimental correlation of impact-induced damages in CFRP laminates

Composite laminates are characterized by high mechanical in-plane properties and poor out-of-plane characteristics. This issue becomes even more relevant when dealing with impact phenomena occurring in the transverse direction. In aeronautics, Low Velocity Impacts (LVIs) may occur during the service life of the aircraft. LVI may produce damage inside the laminate, which are not easily detectable and can seriously degrade the mechanical properties of the structure. In this paper, a numerical-experimental investigation is carried out, in order to study the mechanical behavior of rectangular laminated specimens subjected to low velocity impacts. The numerical model that best represents the impact phenomenon has been chosen by numerical-analytical investigations. A user defined material model (VUMAT) has been developed in Abaqus/Explicit environment to simulate the composite intra-laminar damage behavior in solid elements. The analyses results were compared to experimental test data on a laminated specimen, performed according to ASTM D7136 standard, in order to verify the robustness of the adopted numerical model and the influence of modeling parameters on the accuracy of numerical results.