Low velocity impact on fibre metal laminates: A review

Even though several works are available on the analysis of low-velocity impact (LVI) on fibre metal laminates (FMLs), there is still scope for a better understanding of the complexities associated with their analysis, making it an important area of research. Therefore, it is essential to compile and present the state-of-the-art research in this area to make the critical information available in one paper, facilitating future research. This paper thus covers the detailed review of the articles published on the LVI response of fibre metal laminates (FMLs) based on experimental, numerical and analytical approaches and the associated damage mechanisms under different impact conditions. The discussions can be mainly categorized into two broad groups, namely geometrical and material-based parameters, which significantly influence the structural response of FMLs upon impact. Additionally, the paper compares various numerical techniques reported to model the impact behaviour of FMLs, along with an overview of analytical models. Based on the manufacturing techniques and material constituents of FMLs, the paper discusses feasible methods of improving the performance of impact-prone structures. The exhaustive review of the literature finally concludes that there are scopes of investigating some of the important and relevant areas related to LVI of FMLs like the influence of relative mass of impactor and target and accurate determination of contact stiffness for accurate estimation of interface delamination. Investigating the LVI performance of advanced sandwich structures with FML facesheets is a potential area of research in this direction.