An experimental investigation on low-velocity impact response and compression after impact of a stochastic, discontinuous prepreg tape composite

The present paper investigated the impact and compression after impact behavior of thin carbon fiber epoxy plates manufactured from prepreg platelet molding compound (PPMC) with two different discontinuous fiber length, 25.5 mm and 12.7 mm, and compared it with the behavior of continuous fiber quasi-isotropic composite laminate with a similar plate thickness. The results of dynamic testing showed that PPMC/12.7 mm exhibited larger amount of absorbed energy, which correlated with larger damage area measured by ultrasonic inspection. Micro-CT analysis showed that a discontinuous fiber composite developed significant amount of throughthickness damage. C-scan measured damage area correlated well with the compression after impact testing results, which indicated that longer fibers provide for better damage tolerance.