Hypervelocity impact damage prediction in composites: Part 1 - material model and characterisation

This paper reports on the development of an extended orthotropic continuum material model and associated material characterisation techniques for the simulation and validation of impacts onto fibre reinforced composite materials. This part I of the paper focuses on the details of the numerical model and the material characterisation experiments. Part II (also in this volume) provides details of hypervelocity impact damage experiments and simulations performed to assess the capabilities of the developed model. Here a detailed description of the material model as implemented in AUTODYN is provided. The model is an extension of a previous effort that focused on allowing the correct thermodynamic response of orthotropic materials to be simulated under shock wave loading. Improved capabilities to allow prediction of the extent of damage and residual strength of fibre composite materials after impact are described along with a set of quasi-static and dynamic experiments used to characterise the directional non-linear strength and extent of damage. Application of the model and derived material data is demonstrated through the simulation of a hypervelocity impact event of an aluminium sphere impacting the Columbus module shielding system of the International Space Station. (C) 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd.