Dynamic response and damage assessment of spherical robot GFRP spherical shell under low velocity impact

Abstract

Abstract In the normal operation of a spherical robot, its spherical shell structure is often accompanied by low velocity impact. At the same time, the spherical shell structure should take into account its protective ability against high strength impact of small probability. Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP), which has high specific strength, specific stiffness, corrosion resistance and an impact energy dissipation coefficient, can be used as the ideal spherical shell material for spherical robots. In this study, the low velocity impact damage of GFRP spherical shell is studied based on the background that a thin-walled shell structure of spherical robot may suffer from large deformation and dynamic load. This study is divided into three aspects: experiment, simulation and calculation. The dynamic response and residual bearing capacity of the GFRP spherical shell is obtained through experiments; the progressive damage model of the composite structure, which demonstrates expounded stress distribution, a structural deformation mode and an energy dissipation mechanism under impact, is established based on the Hashin criterion. Low velocity impact-penetrating failure of the elastic brittle thin-walled GFRP spherical shell is calculated according to the geometrical principle and energy method. In this paper, the material dynamic behavior and impact damage of a GFRP spherical shell are systematically studied. This is of great significance for the development of high-performance spherical robots and the realization of accurate control.