Uncertainty Quantification of High-Velocity Impact Fracture in Fiber-Reinforced Composites Using a Robust Stochastic Sampling Approach

Composite materials are known for their excellent mechanical and light weight properties. However, their vulnerability to interlaminar damages poses a significant challenge for the design of safe and lightweight aerospace structures. Advanced Finite Element Analysis tools based on Cohesive Zone Method and Continuum Damage Mechanics offer a new prospective to investigate impact and damage scenarios to aid the design of structures while paying attention to damage initiation and propagation. A physical-based stacked shell-cohesive modeling technique was implemented in this study to conduct a stochastic analysis of a standardized ASTM composite panel subjected to a blunt high-velocity impact. A comprehensive structured Monte Carlo Latin Hypercube method was applied to quantify uncertainties in interlaminar fracture toughness distribution and to investigate their impact on delamination size and projectile’s residual velocity. The results indicate that while resultant global delamination size and shape is less sensitive to material uncertainties, residual projectile’s velocity is significantly affected, emphasizing the importance of structured stochastic methods in analysing uncertainty propagation in macro-scale physical-based numerical models subjected to impact or fracture phenomena.