Low velocity impact tolerance is a major concern in the design of critical aerospace structures. Conventional composites consisting of laminated unidirectional plies possess poor impact tolerance, due to the propensity of their constituent plies to delaminate when subjected to dynamic out-of-plane loading. The resultant damage can significantly affect the residual strength of a composite. Alternative laminate architectures, e.g. 3D-wovens, non-crimp fabrics, and z-pinned composites, contain through thickness reinforcements which improve their out-of-plane response. However, the fiber crimp and fiber breakage introduced during the manufacture of these composites negatively impact their undamaged in-plane mechanical properties. A novel preform method known as Advanced Placed Ply preforming (AP-PLY) makes use of Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) technology to produce quasi-woven composites. AP-PLY laminates are more impact tolerant than conventional angle-ply composites, but retain the latter's excellent in-plane strength and stiffness.
We would like to thank Dr Francisca Martínez Hergueta Diaz for giving this lecture. This lecture was given as part of the Invited Lecture Series in November 2022 for the Next Generation Fibre-Reinforced Composites: A Full Scale Redesign for Compression funded by the UK Research and Innovation - Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Programme Grant EP/T011653/1. A collaboration between Imperial College London and University of Bristol.
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21 мар 2024
