ON THE IMPACT BETWEEN A RIGID SPHERE AND A THIN COMPOSITE LAMINATE SUPPORTED BY A RIGID SUBSTRATE

The impact response of a thin composite laminate supported by a rigid substrate is addressed. An impact model based on a static contact law which incorporates damage effects is used in simulations to investigat e the effect of impact parameters on the impact response. Damage is fo und to affect the response significantly. It is shown that the impact energy is not a sufficient parameter to describe impact where the impa ct parameters other than the impact velocity and the impactor mass are varying. The results show that the impact model presented in the curr ent study completely describes the local impact response of composite laminates.