Modeling Large-Surface Impact-Induced Damage in Iteratively Characterized Filament-Wound Composite Pipes: A Numerical and Experimental Investigation

With the widespread use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite pipes, their susceptibility to impact damage remains a significant cause of concern. This work investigates the structural response and damage propagation of glass-fiber reinforced epoxy (GRE) pipes under large-surface low-velocity impacts. A series of drop-weight impact tests of varying heights is conducted and compared to numerical finite element (FE) simulations. Then, plies are individually modeled and assigned with properties obtained from the authors' earlier work. Utilizing composite failure theories and mixed-mode delamination theories, the simulated structural responses including the load-displacement, strain-displacement response and damage propagation are compared and validated with the experimental results. It was found that the structural response is well predicted at higher drop heights and there is a significant change in damage type and propagation with increasing drop heights. The proposed approach builds on the authors' earlier work and provides a modeling approach for the prediction of structural response, inter- and intra-laminar damage with just pipe level properties.