Low-Velocity Impact Characteristics of GLARE Laminates with Different Sheet Thickness

Fiber reinforcement with metallic face sheets is one of the recently implemented advanced materials in distinctive applications such as fender, bonnet, and chassis used in automotive sectors. While the reinforcement enhances the sustenance property of the laminate, the face sheets provide resistance to impact force. In most automotive sectors, drop-weight analysis at varying velocity range is performed to evaluate the damage characteristics of the vehicle body. The present work is aimed at studying the influence of low-velocity impact (LVI) on glass laminate aluminum-reinforced epoxy (GLARE) laminate. Three distinct thicknesses of Al-2024 T3 aluminum alloy (0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 mm) were chosen as the face sheet, the overall thickness was kept at 2.0 mm for all the cases. Absorbed energy and damage characteristics of GLARE for different energy was experimentally determined using drop-weight impact tester. From the results, it was found that GLARE laminate can sustain a maximum impact energy of around 20 J, beyond which damage in the form of cracks begin to occur at bottom face sheet also. It was also evident that laminate can sustain impact at a velocity of 3.13 m/s and beyond which it leads to delamination damage at 3.49 m/s. Further, it is noticed that GLARE laminate with 0.3 mm face sheet thickness has best results with reference to both absorbed energy and damage when compared with other thicknesses. Also, the sample B indicates the optimal surface texture when subjected to LVI damage obtained through scanning electron microscope (SEM).