Effect of Axial Impact on the Static Flexure of Graphite/Epoxy Beams

Graphite-epoxy beams were subjected to an eccentric axial impact load in a drop tower test fixture in order to study their large displacement flexural behavior. The time history of the transient axial load exhibited a large magnitude occurring just after impact, which was many times greater than the static failure load. The damage caused by this peak dynamic load was measured by the reduction in energy absorption of the impacted beam relative to a virgin beam in static tests. For the thirty-ply specimens, the amount of damage increased with increasing axial stiffness.