International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering 895

ISSN 0974-5904, Volume 04, No 06 SPL, October 2011, pp 895-898

Finite Element Study of Graphite/Epoxy Laminates Subjected to Low-velocity

Transverse Impact

Shuchindra Silayach
Former Post Graduate Student, Department of Structural Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, Jaipur,
302017, India. E-mail: silayach.shuchindra@gmail.com
K. A. Patel
Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, 110016, India.
E-mail: iitd.kashyap@gmail.com
Sandeep Chaudhary
Associate Professor, Department of Structural Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, Jaipur, 302017, India.
E-mail:sandeep.nitjaipur@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Laminated fibre reinforced polymers composites are used in civil engineering applications for various
purposes. The composite laminates may be damaged due to low velocity impact and such damage may be invisible by
naked eyes. This invisible damage may lead to significant reduction in material strength and stiffness. The present study
investigates the effect of low velocity transverse impact on the graphite/epoxy laminates. Finite element software
ABAQUS is used to model the laminate and carrying out the analytical studies. The Hashin’s damage criterion is
adopted to define the properties related to the damage for the graphite epoxy material. The finite element model is
validated with the results available in the literature elsewhere and the results are found to be in good agreement. The
variation of damage with the boundary conditions and thickness of the laminate is established by numerical study carried
out using the validated model. It is found that the damage decreases with increase in thickness of laminate. Damage is
more when the edges of the square plate are simply supported as compared to the boundary condition when all edges are
fully clamped.

KEY WORDS: Fibre Reinforced Polymers; Composite Laminate; Finite Element Analysis; Internal Damage.

INTRODUCTION
A composite is a multiphase material formed from a
combination of two or more materials that differ in
composition or form, which are bonded together, but
retaining their identities and properties (Wessel 2004).
The composition of the different materials leads to newly
formed material having better properties than the
individual materials. A lot of advances are being made in
the use of composites and they are rapidly becoming
popular in the construction sector. Polymer composites are
now being used in areas such as bridge repair, bridge
design, mooring cables, structural strengthening and
stand-alone components.
to simulate the crushing of the plates. A user-defined
material subroutine was developed by Huang and Lee
(2003) to enhance the damage simulation.
Zhang et al. (2006) presented a numerical model for the
composite laminate plates to predict the damage initiation
and propagation in low velocity impact tests. The damages
of delamination and matrix cracks were assumed to be
confined to interfaces located between predefined
damageable regions. A scalar damage variable was
introduced and the degradation of interface stiffness was
established.

The impact damage mechanism in a laminate constitutes a
very complex process (Farooq and Gregory 2009). It is a
combination of matrix cracking, surface buckling,
delamination, fibre shear-out, and fibre fracture, etc.,
which usually all interact with each other (Farooq and
Gregory 2009). A lot of research has been carried out
recently on damage in laminated fibre reinforced
composites due to low velocity impact. Sun & Liou
(1989) investigated laminated composite plates under
impact dynamic loading using a three-dimensional hybrid
stress finite element method. Huang and Lee (2003)
carried out experiments and also used ABAQUS to
simulate the crushing of graphite epoxy plate. A steel
indentor was used to compress the specimens made of
epoxy prepregs. The reaction force was gradually
increased and recorded until the plates thoroughly
collapsed. The FEM software, ABAQUS, was employed
The effect of impact fatigue on composites was studied
and reported by Azouaoui et al. (2007). Experimental tests
were performed under increasing impact energy and
increasing number of impact conditions. It was found by
Azouaoui et al. (2007) that the delamination area and
crater dimension in the laminate increase with the increase
in the level of incident energy and impact factor.
Tita et al. (2008) developed a finite element analysis
(FEA) tool using Hill’s model and material models
implemented by UMAT (User Material Subroutine) into
software ABAQUS, in order to simulate the failure
mechanisms under indentation tests. Two material models
were implemented as UMAT subroutine into software
ABAQUS by Tita et al. (2008). Model I was developed to
simulate only the intra ply mechanism using the shell
elements whereas model II was developed to simulate

#020410435 Copyright © 2011 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY. All rights reserved

 896 Shuchindra Silayach, K. A. Patel, Sandeep Chaudhary
both the inter ply and intra ply mechanism using the solid
elements. The failure criteria for the material model I was
based on works published by Yamada and Sun (1978),
Hashin (1980), Chang and Chang (1987). The failure
criteria for model II was based on work published by
Hashin (1980) and other models.
Tiberkak et al. (2008) investigated the effect of low
velocity impact on composite plates using a finite element
model formulated in FORTRAN computer code. The
Mindlin’s plate theory was implemented into the FE
approach and a 9-node Lagrangian element was
considered. Effect of stacking sequence, in-plane
dimensions, velocity of impactor and mass of impactor
was studied extensively. The contact duration was found
to be higher for plates with smaller in-plane dimensions
and the duration was found to be independent of the mass
of the impactor. It was also found that the crack initiation
occurs away from the contact point.
Recently, Farooq and Gregory (2009) have developed
simulation models for damages and deflections in
composites. The models have benn incorporated into
commercially available finite element software. It was
concluded that the impactor nose shape is an important
factor in damage resistance of composite. It has also been
concluded that the performance of the laminates could be
improved by properly tailoring and controlling the
strength parameters for the design against failure.
A number of mechanisms have been proposed in literature
for the failure of composites. Yamada and Sun (1978)
assumed that (i) the laminate is assumed to fail when all
the laminas have failed with cracks along the fiber
direction and (ii) the failure strength of a lamina is taken
from a cross-ply laminate. They proposed a failure
criterion of a lamina in a laminate by means of the
following expression
2
σ11  τ12 
2
  +  = l
2
(1)
 x   sis 
when l2 ≥1 failures occur; and if l2 <1 no failure occurs.
where, σ11 and τ12 are the longitudinal and tangential shear
stresses, x is the strength of the lamina in the fibre
direction, and sis is the in situ shear strength of the lamina.
Hashin and Rotem (1973) proposed two failure
mechanisms: one based on the failure of the fibre and the
other based on the failure of the matrix. The first is
governed by the longitudinal stress, with reference to the
fibre orientation, and the second is governed by the
transversal and tangential stresses to the fibre. Hashin
(1980) again proposed two failure mechanisms: one
associated with the fiber and the other associated with the
matrix, distinguishing, in both cases, between tension and
compression.
International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering
ISSN 0974-5904, Volume 04, No 06 SPL, October 2011, pp 895-898
Damage initiation refers to the onset of degradation at a
material point. In ABAQUS, the damage initiation criteria
for fiber reinforced composites are based on Hashin’s
theory (Hashin and Rotem 1973, and Hashin 1980). These
criteria consider four different damage initiation
mechanisms: (i) fiber tension; (ii) fiber compression; (iii)
matrix tension; and (iv) matrix compression. The damage
initiation criteria for the fiber reinforced composites in
ABAQUS have the following general forms:
Fiber tension (σ11 ≥ 0):
σ  τ 
2 2
Fft = 11T  +α  12L  (2)
x  s 
Fiber compression (σ11 < 0):
σ 
2
Ffc =  11C  (3)
x 
Matrix tension (σ 22 ≥ 0):
σ  τ 
2 2
Fmt =  22T  +  12L  (4)
 x  s 
Matrix compression (σ 22 < 0):
 σ   y  σ  τ12 
2 C 2 2
Fmc =  22T  +  T  −1 22 + (5)
C   L 
 2s   2s   y   s 
where, Ff = failure index for the fiber; Fm = failure index
for the matrix; XT = tensile strength in the fiber direction;
XC = compressive strength in the fiber direction; YT =
tensile strength in the direction perpendicular to the fibers;
YC = compressive strength in the direction perpendicular
to the fibers; SL = longitudinal shear strength; ST =
transverse shear strength; α = coefficient that determines
the contribution of the shear stress to the fiber tensile
initiation criterion; and σ11 ,σ 22 ,τ12 = components of the
effective stress tensor.
A finite element model has been developed in the present
study for the analysis of composite laminates subjected to
low velocity impact. The model is validated with the
results available in the literature. Parametric studies are
carried out to establish the effect of thickness and
boundary conditions of plate on the damage.
FINITE ELEMENT MODEL AND VALIDATION
The present problem involves two parts in modeling
namely, impactor and plate. The impactor considered for
the present study is a solid rigid ball of radius 10 mm and
weight 14.175 gm. The plates are square (140 mm × 140
mm) laminated cross-ply and angle ply composite plates
having 3-layers of equal thickness. The plates are assumed
to be made of graphite-epoxy AS-3501-6 material (AS is
the type of graphite fibre used and 3501-6 is the epoxy
type used for matrix) having different boundary conditions
at the edges. The material properties of the composite
 Finite Element Study of Graphite/Epoxy Laminates Subjected to 897
Low-velocity Transverse Impact

lamina for the model are listed in Table 1. Plate is meshed
with 4-node, quadrilateral, conventional shell element
(stress/displacement) with reduced integration and finite-
strain formulation (S4R element) for analysis. The plate
geometry is partitioned to include a central “target”
location that allows a finer mesh to be applied to the local
impact zone. This finer mesh is transitioned to a coarse
mesh at the outer edges of the plate. Details of the mesh
used for the plate is shown in Fig. 1. The Hashin’s damage
criteria is adopted to define the properties related to the
damage for the graphite epoxy material.
as compared to 16.5 m/sec reported by Chun and Lam
(1998). The maximum value of central transverse
displacement obtained from the proposed model is 1.28
mm as compared to 1.40 mm reported by Chun and Lam
(1998). The slight difference between numerical values
and graphs could be devoted to the method used for
contact formulation. Chun and Lam’s analysis (1998) was
based on Hertzian contact method whereas surface to
surface contact formulation is used in this model.
20000

Table 1 Material properties of Graphite-epoxy AS-3501-6 15000

10000
Material Property Values 5000

Velocity of Impactor (mm/s)

Young modulus at fibre direction, E1 142.73 GPa 0
0 100 200 300 400 500
Young modulus at normal to the fibre, E2 13.79 GPa -5000

Poisson’s ratio, ν12 0.3 -10000

-15000
Shear modulus, G12 4.64 GPa -20000
Chun and Lam (1998)
Present Study
Shear modulus, G13 4.64 GPa -25000
Time (Micro-second)
Shear modulus, G23 3.03 GPa
Density, ρ 1610 kg /m3 Fig. 2 Comparison of impactor velocity
Tensile strength in the fibre direction, XT
1447 MPa
Comp. strength in the fibre direction, XC 1447 MPa
Tensile strength in the direction perpendi- 1.5
51.7 MPa
cular to the fibres, YT 1

Compressive strength in the direction

Central Transverse Displacement (mm)

206 MPa 0.5

perpendicular to the fibre, YC
0
Longitudinal shear strength, SL 93 MPa 0 100 200 300 400 500
-0.5
Transverse shear strength, ST 103 MPa
Volume fraction 0.66 -1

-1.5 Chun and Lam (1998)

Present Study
-2
Time (Micro-second)

Fig. 3 Comparison of central transverse displacement

NUMERICAL STUDY
To study the effect of layer thickness and boundary
conditions, analysis is carried out for 0/90/0 plate for the
impact velocity of 22.6 m/s on different layer thickness of
the ply, the period of analysis being 500 microsecond.

The analysis is carried out for three types of boundary

Fig. 1 Finite element mesh of plate
The developed finite element model is validated by
published results of Chun and Lam (1998) for 0/90/0
composite plate with clamped boundary condition and
velocity of impactor as 22.5m/s.
The impactor velocity and central transverse displacement
obtained from the model are compared to that reported by
Chun and Lam (1998). The maximum value of impactor
velocity obtained from the proposed model is 16.6 m/sec
conditions i.e. CCCC, CSCS and SSSS, where SSSS =
plate simply supported on all four sides; CSCS = plate
with two sides clamped and two sides simply supported;
and CCCC = plate clamped on all four sides. The damage
pattern for the boundary conditions SSSS, CSCS and
CCCC is shown in Figs. 4-6 respectively. It is observed
from the Figs. that, for the same velocity of impact and
boundary conditions, the damage in the laminate
decreases with the increase in the thickness of the plate.
It is seen that damage is maximum for SSSS condition and
least for CCCC condition, though the damage pattern is
nearly identical. The identical damage pattern for different
bounday conditions may be owing to the similar fibre
orientation.

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering

ISSN 0974-5904, Volume 04, No 06 SPL, October 2011, pp 895-898
 898 Shuchindra Silayach, K. A. Patel, Sandeep Chaudhary

CONCLUSION
A finite element model has been developed for the low
velocity impact analysis of graphite/epoxy laminates.
Parametric studies are carried out using the developed
model. Damage is found to decrease with the increase in
thickness of laminate. Damage is found to be more when
the edges of the square plate are simply supported as
compared to the case when all edges are fully clamped.
Layer thickness=.46667mm Layer thickness=1.27mm
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International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering

ISSN 0974-5904, Volume 04, No 06 SPL, October 2011, pp 895-898