Effect of impactor nose form on the impact behavior of reinforced composite materials

The goal of the present study is to investigate the influence of impactor shape on the low-velocity impact behavior of the composite panels manufactured with different reinforcement materials at the same thicknesses, experimentally. Kevlar, carbon, S-2 glass woven fabric and epoxy matrix have been used to manufacture thermoset composites with the vacuum-assisted resin infusion molding method. The Fractovis plus test machine with a 12.7 mm diameter hemispherical and two different conical impactor noses was used to perform impact tests. The effects of impactor shapes on the low-velocity impact behavior have been compared for 20 J, 40 J, and 60 J energy levels. Although at the same impact energy level, S-2 glass fiber-reinforced epoxy specimens have a higher perforation threshold than carbon and Kevlar fiber-reinforced epoxy. Because to achieve the same thickness, the number of S-2 glass layers was greater than the number of carbon and Kevlar layers. Additionally, the form of the impactor greatly influenced the perforation threshold.