Effect of fibre orientation on damage resistance of composite laminates

The present study deals with the behaviour of angle ply composite laminates subjected to low velocity impact. The laminates were prepared by E-glass fibres as reinforcement and epoxy as resin. Experiments were performed on these laminates by using low velocity drop weight set-up machine at three energy levels produced by using two masses. At energy level it was noticed that, [0/90]_s laminate was most damage resistant and [0/15]_s laminate was least resistant while the contact duration of impactor on laminate(s) was found to be sensitive to mass level. Finite Element (FE) analysis was performed to quantify the damage in laminates and investigate energy absorbed in intra-layer failure modes. During the post-processing FE analysis helps to mark the critical load points on the load-displacement history and quantification of distinct failure modes. The size of delamination profile was seen to be governed by fibre orientation and inter-laminar shear stresses at the interface.