Testing and Data Analysis of Laminates Subjected to Quasi-static Indentation and Compressive Ultimate Loads

The compressive ultimate strength variation of laminated composite plate after impact is considered as important foundation for the structural design application of air vehicle. In accordance with the standard testing recommendations of quasi-static indentation and compressive strength after impact (CAI) for fiber reinforced polymer-matrix composite, this paper carries out the CAI testing experiments for carbon and glass fiber reinforced composite laminates typically chosen from engineering practice. Meanwhile, the test data have been dealt with under mathematical statistics methods to obtain the scatter characteristics and probability distribution fit goodness of effective elastic moduli and ultimate strengths for the indented specimens, also including their A and B based allowables. The results shows that the probability distributions of effective modulus and CAI ultimate strength of the two kinds of laminated composite plates can be considered to remain normal, but carbon fiber reinforced composite laminate presents more brittleness than glass fiber reinforced one.