Impact Behaviors of Sandwich Composites Produced by Liquid Resin Infusion: Influences of the Process Parameters
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 5
Abstract
This article presents the results of research on sandwich materials manufactured by liquid resin infusion and designed to resist in low-velocity/low-energy impact applications. The sandwich plates are made of composites skins [glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP)] on a foam core. A manufacturing method was designed to produce samples in a one-shot process. Four manufacturing parameters were selected and combined: resin’s temperature, preform’s temperature, hardener type, and presence of nanoscaled additives. Their influences on the behavior of the samples during impact and the resulting damages were investigated. For each manufactured plate, nine samples were impacted with a 10 J drop-weight tower. Impacted samples were inspected with two nondestructive testing methods, visual inspection and infrared thermography. Samples were cut afterward to confirm conclusions and observe in-depth damages. Two impact behaviors and three damage types have been identified among all tested samples. The impact properties of the samples can be directly linked to the processing conditions. To ensure uniform mechanical properties, plates should be manufactured with isothermal conditions (same temperature in the preform and in the resin). If the manufacturing temperature is high enough, there is no significant influence on the impact behavior of the sandwich samples using slow or standard hardener. The higher the infusion temperature is, the more brittle the resulting composite. With nanoadditives in isothermal conditions, the resin’s viscosity is much higher, leading to a longer infusion and nonuniform properties.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Data available: Force (t)/displacement (t) for Figs. 5, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Calculation methods are given in Gulla (2018).
Acknowledgments
We thank Frédéric Leonardi (IPREM, France) for his help with the Nanostrength additive.
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Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 35 • Issue 5 • September 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 30, 2021
Accepted: May 12, 2022
Published online: Jul 8, 2022
Published in print: Sep 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Dec 8, 2022
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Cited by
- Chao Zhang, Guoxing Lu, Tao Suo, Impact Dynamics for Advanced Aerospace Materials and Structures, Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 10.1061/JAEEEZ.ASENG-5047, 36, 4, (2023).