Low-velocity impact of laminated composites using a layerwise theory (Q1323056)

A layerwise theory is used to study the low-velocity impact response of laminated plates. Six different models are employed to obtain the impact pressure distribution. It is demonstrated that the time history of the plate deflection is independent of the spatial distribution of the impact pressure in contact area; also the total impulse, transmitted to the plate by the impactor, remains the same. However, the stress field near the contact region is very sensitive to the choice of pressure distribution. In the first five models (concentrated load at the point of contact, uniform loading distributed over a small rectangular area, cosine-shaped loading, circular uniform loading, Hertz model) the resulting nonlinear integral equation is discretized using the time-finite-element scheme. In the sixth loading model, the time-dependent contact area is a circular region with radius valid for Hertzian contact law. This final special loading case results in a more complicated nonlinear integral equation than those in the first five loading models. The presented numerical technique is new, numerical results are tested with a series of existing example problems. Important conclusions are reached concerning the usefulness of equivalent single-layer theories.