Modeling of Shock Wave Propagation in Woven Composites*

Plate impact simulations of a metallic flyer impacting a woven glass-fiber reinforced plastic (GRP) at various velocities are performed using the ALE3D finite element code. GRP VISAR data from a series of one-dimensional strain-based shock wave experiments available in open literature by Tsai et al. (2009) were utilized in the calibration of a hyperelasticity constitutive equations based continuum damage mechanics (CDM) model. The damage model considered various failure modes, such as delamination, matrix cracking, bulking, and fiber failure. The experimental data included D7 Tool Steel and 7075-T6 aluminum flyer plates and two different GRP thicknesses (6.8 mm or 13.6 mm) with a range of impact velocities from 8.5 m/s to 418 m/s. The damage model realistically captured several salient features of the experimental wave profiles in terms of the shock rise time and the shape of the non-linear portions beyond the Hugoniot Elastic Limit (HEL).

L. Tsai, F. Yuan, V. Prakash, and D. P. Dandekar, Journal of Applied Physics 105, 093526 (2009).