Prediction of damage area in laminated composite plates subjected to low velocity impact

An improved analytical method is presented to predict the damage area of composite laminates induced by low velocity impact, which avoids expensive nonlinear three-dimensional FEM analysis. The key point of the proposed method is the definition and analysis of the initial interlaminar shear strength for the prediction of the interlaminar shear failure due to impact. The initial interlaminar shear strength is predicted by a micromechanical model based on Eshelby's equivalent inclusion method. The simplified energy-balance model and quasi-static assumption are used to estimate the maximum contact force. In addition, an approximate solution is proposed for the bending of a clamped symmetric angle-ply laminated rectangular plate subjected to a central concentrated force. Finally, the above techniques are combined to formulate a methodology predicting the impact induced damage area. The analytical results agree well with the test data. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.