IMPACT STUDIES IN GLASS EPOXY LAMINATES CONTAINING FOAM

E glass epoxy laminates were made by a hand layup process. Laminates c ontaining the central portion having either a 2 layer larger cell size d thicker width or a 3 layer thinner width flexible foam were also fab ricated by the same route using a room temperature curing resin. Test coupons were cut from the fabricated laminates and impacted by a pendu lum, having facility to load specific values for its mass, on the face of the laminate. Impacts were made by a single mass or a two stage im pact operations involving preliminary hits, first by a smaller mass an d then by a larger mass. The energy values associated with the process were computed. Macroscopy on failed test coupons was done to identify the dominant mode of failure and correlate the mechanical test data w ith failure processes. It is seen that foam bearing materials absorb i ncreased impact energy compared to plain laminates and further, the ce ll-size/interfacial area of the foam plays a significant role in alter ing the fracture phenomena.