Residual Strength of Fiber Metal Laminates After Impact

Residual strength of fiber metal laminates after impact was studied. 3/4 lay up FML was fabricated using 4 ply prepreg, 2 ply aluminum sheets, and 1 ply steel sheet. Quasi isotropic ([0/45/90/-45]s) and orthotropic ([0/90/0/90]s) FRP were also fabricated to compare with FML. Impact test were conducted by using instrumented drop weight impact machine (Dynatup, Model 8250). Penetration load and absorbed energy of FML were superior to those of FRPs. Tensile tests were conducted to evaluate the residual strength after impact. Strength degradation of FML was less than that of FRP. This means that the damage tolerance of FML is excellent than that of FRP. Residual strength of each specimen was predicted by using Whitney and Nuismer(WN) Model. Impact damage area is assumed as a circular notch in WN model. Damage width is defined as the average of back face and top face damage width of each specimen. Average stress and point stress criterions were used to calculate the characteristic length. It is supposing that a characteristic length is a constant. The distribution of characteristic length shows that the assumption is reasonable. Prediction was well matched with experiment under both stress criterions.