Interface Failure of Heated GLARETM Fiber–Metal Laminates under Bird Strike

Abstract

Many high-strength composite materials have been developed for aircraft structures. GLAss fiber REinforced aluminum (GLARE) is one of the high-performance composites. The review of articles, however, yielded no study on the impact damage of heated GLARE laminates. This study, therefore, aimed at developing a numerical model that can delineate the continuum damage of GLARE 5A-3/2-0.3 laminates at elevated temperatures. In the first stage, the inter-laminar interface failure of heated GLARE laminate had been investigated at room temperature and 80 °C. The numerical analysis employed a three-dimensional GLARE 5A-3/2-0.3 model that accommodated volumetric cohesive interfaces between mating material layers. Lagrangian smoothed particles populated the projectile. The model considered the degradation of tensile and shear modulus of glass fiber reinforced epoxy (GF/EP) at 80 °C, while incorporated temperature-dependent critical strain energy release rate of cohesive interfaces. When coupled with the material particulars, an 82 m/s bird impact at room temperature exhibited delamination first in the GF/EP 90°/0° interface farthest from the impacted side. Keeping the impact velocity, interface failure propagated at a slower rate at 80 °C than that at room temperature, which was in agreement with the impact damage determined in the experiments. The outcomes of this study will help optimize a GLARE laminate based on the anti-icing temperature of aircraft.