Impact Behaviour of Woven Natural Silk Composite Face-Sheet Sandwiched Foam under Low Velocity Impact

Abstract

This paper describes the result of an experimental investigation on the impact damage on woven natural silk/epoxy composite face-sheet and PVC foam core sandwich panel. The test panels were prepared by hand-lay-up method. The low-velocity impact response of the composites sandwich panels is studied at three energy levels of 32, 48, and 64 joule respectively. The focus is to investigate damage initiation, damage propagation, and mechanisms of failure. It was observed that absorption energy capability decreased as impact energy increased. There was deflection on each impact load configuration at some point but their margin was insignificant. Physical examination of the specimen show that damage areas increased with increase in impact load. The novelty of this research is the use of woven natural silk fabric as a reinforcement fibre.