Impact response of semicylindrical woven composite shells: The effect of stacking sequence

Abstract

The existing literature extensively explores the influence of stacking sequences on symmetric flat laminates subjected to low-velocity impacts. However, this is not true in the case of curved laminates. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to analyse the effect of stacking sequences on the impact response of semicylindrical woven composite shells. For this purpose laminates with [0]8 , [45]8 , [＋15,−15]2S , [＋22.5,−22.5] 2S, and [＋30,−30]2S , were considered in order to evaluate the impact response of layer orientations. Additionally, laminates with [0 2 , 45 2 ]S , [0,45]2S , [0,45 2 , 0]S , and [45 2, 0 2 ] S were employed to analyse the effects of changing the positioning of the layers in relation to the laminate mid-plane. The FE model was validated with the experimental results obtained for [0] laminates, where good numerical–experimental correlation was obtained. The findings suggest that an increase in impact bending stiffness (IBS) leads to a rise in maximum force, accompanied by a decrease in maximum displacement, contact time, and dissipated energy. The primary mechanism responsible for dissipating the majority of impact energy is intralaminar damage, followed by delaminations and friction. Importantly, changing the layer positions has a significant impact on how each layer within the semicylindrical quasi-isotropic composite shell distributes and dissipates energy during the impact event.