Effect of the Reinforcement Phase on Indentation Resistance and Damage Characterization of Glass/Epoxy Laminates Using Acoustic Emission Monitoring

The effect of reinforcement phases on indentation resistance and damage behavior of glass/epoxy laminates was investigated in this research work. Woven glass fiber mat and nonwoven chopped glass fiber mat were used as fiber reinforcement phases for fabricating the laminates. Low-velocity impact and quasi-static indentation tests were performed on both laminates to investigate the contact behavior and energy-absorbing capability. Moreover, the acoustic emission (AE) technique was employed to monitor the indentation damage resistance. AE parameters including normalized cumulative counts (NCC), normalized cumulative energy (NCE), rise angle (RA), and felicity ratio (FR) were analyzed. The bidirectional laminates showed premature load drops and drastic changes in the normalized cumulative counts/energy profile in the beginning of loading cycles, indicating the development of macrodamage such as debonding/delamination. AE sentry function results of bidirectional laminates show longer PII function at the earlier stages, associated with minor PIII function and greater PIV function, indicating the continuous degradation and progression of damage. In contrast, the chopped laminates exhibited superior postimpact performance than the bidirectional laminates. The presence of randomly oriented fibres prevents the delamination crack propagation during compression loading, which was attributed with the increased residual compressive strength.

Quasi-static indentation and sound-absorbing properties of 3D printed sandwich core panels

The use of 3D printing to produce acoustic panels with good mechanical and acoustic properties was investigated in this paper. Various fiber layups of the fiberglass face sheet and core designs were fabricated and tested for their indentation resistance and acoustic absorption performance. It was found that the bidirectional face sheet layup exhibited the best indentation energy absorption recording 4.2 J, which is 37% more than the 45-degree layout and 66% more than the quasi-isotropic layup. The specific energy absorption of the hybrid honeycomb core is the best among the three core designs recording 404 J/kg, which is 56% higher than the corrugated triangle with horizontal beam core (359 J/kg) and 20% higher than double ellipse core (335 J/kg). Computed-Tomography (CT) scan was used to study the fracture behavior of the sandwich structures. It was found that the bidirectional layup exhibited a different failure mode as compared to the 45-degree and quasi-isotropic layup. In terms of the acoustic properties, the face sheets with various layup patterns have a low acoustic absorption coefficient with minimal differences from each other at low frequencies (500 Hz–3000 Hz) and have higher absorption coefficients with greater differences from each other at frequencies between 3000 Hz–6500 Hz. The absorption curve was significantly affected by the design of the core. The orientation of the core also comes into play if the core is asymmetrical. The hybrid honeycomb sandwich structure was the optimal structure among the three designs for balanced indentation resistance and acoustic insulation.

Evaluation of Adhesion Properties of Hard Coatings by Means of Indentation and Acoustic Emission

In general, the mechanical properties of hard thin coatings are investigated using indentation methods. Material characteristics of hard coatings, such as elastic modulus and hardness, are evaluated by means of nanoindentation and an appropriate evaluation methodology. The most popular method used to obtain the coating properties required using nanoindentation is the evaluation based on the Oliver and Pharr methodology. Adhesion and wear properties can be calculated using these data. In this study, we used a novel method to evaluate the wear and adhesion of coatings. A special measuring device combined with static indentation and acoustic emission signal detection was developed to evaluate the adhesion of coatings. The device consists of a macrohardness instrumental indentation device equipped with an acoustic emission measuring gauge. It was used to investigate crack formation and adhesion of coatings deposited on different substrates using acoustic emissions data. The results using both the existing and novel methods were compared and evaluated.

An experimental study on quasi-static indentation, low-velocity impact and damage behaviors of laminated composites at high temperatures

Nowadays, fiber reinforced laminated composites are widely used in many applications due to their high strength/weight ratio. However, these materials are very sensitive to transverse loading. The low-velocity impact test has been widely used by researchers to simulate the transverse loading. However, the low-velocity impact tests are highly toilsome, and this test requires expensive hardware and software systems. To reduce the experimental costs of the low-velocity impact test, it will be more attractive, much simpler, cheaper and more widely available to achieve impact behavior using quasi-static tests. Thus, to compare both tests, in this work the absorbed energy and force-deflection curves obtained by low-velocity impact and quasi-static indentation loading in two different fiber reinforced epoxy composites have been investigated. The Carbon-Kevlar hybrid fabrics and S2 glass fabrics were used as reinforcements. For low-velocity impact tests, a range of energies was used between 20 and 80 J. For quasi-static indentation test, the crosshead speeds were increased gradually from 1 mm/min to 60 mm/min. In addition, tests at 23°C, 40°C, 60°C and 80°C were made to examine the effect of temperature on these tests. As a result of the quasi-static tests performed, the amount of energy required to perforate the samples at a certain test speed is at the same level as the low-velocity impact test. Thus, the required energy amount for the perforation of the materials can be found by performing a quasi-static test at an appropriate speed, rather than the low-velocity impact test.

Quasi-static indentation characteristics of sandwich composites with hybrid facesheets: Experimental and numerical approach

The load response, energy absorption, different damage mechanisms and failure modes of sandwich panels subjected to complete perforation by quasi-static indentation and the insights gleaned are presented in this paper. The experimental campaign was carried out on samples made of different type of facesheets: Aluminium, glass fibre-reinforced plastic and metal-composite hybrid (combined aluminium and GFRP) with two different core heights. Reliable numerical models were developed with appropriate constitutive material and damage model for facesheets and honeycomb core to complement the experimental observations. Good agreement between experimental results and numerical predictions in terms of force-displacement response and perforation damage ensure the fidelity of the developed numerical model. Effects of facesheet type, core height, energy absorbed by the constituent layers, damage evolution history are briefly discussed. It was observed that the energy absorption of sandwich panels and peak indentation force resisted by the top and bottom facesheet are strongly dependent on its metal-volume fraction, whilst unaffected with the height of the core. Recommendations for developing computationally efficient numerical models were provided.

Effect of extreme cold temperatures on quasi-static indentation and impact behavior of woven carbon fiber epoxy composite sandwich panels with nomex honeycomb core

The effect of extreme cold temperatures on the quasi-static indentation and the low velocity impact behavior of woven carbon/epoxy composite sandwich panels with Nomex honeycomb core was investigated. Impact tests were performed at room temperature, –70°C, and –150°C. Two sizes of hemispherical impactor were used combined to three different impactor masses. All the impact tests were performed at the same initial impact velocity. The effect of temperature on the impact behavior is investigated by studying the load history, load-displacement curves and transmitted energy as a function of time curves. Impact damage induced at various temperatures was studied using different non-destructive and destructive techniques. Globally, more damages are induced with impact temperature decreasing. The results also show that the effect of temperature on the impact behavior is function of the impactor size.