Progressive Damage of GFRP Composite Plate under Ballistic Impact: Experimental and Numerical Study

In this paper, the behaviour of laminated GFRP composite plate under ballistic impact has been studied with experimental as well as numerical model. Variation of residual velocity, energy absorption, damaged area and modes of damages have been studied. A simplified three dimensional FE model for composite plate and impactor with gap interaction and Lagrangian mesh has been presented. Material characterization of GFRP composite for progressive damage analysis based on material stress/strain failure criteria has been carried out. Shock effect with nonlinear volumetric response of laminated composite during impact is also considered. Pressure wave propagation in composite plate due to impact is also studied. Numerical results from present FE model are validated with those of experimental results showing close agreements in terms of damaged length, energy absorption and variation of residual velocities.