Studies on the design and compression after impact test of hybrid composites

Abstract

Composite materials containing two or more kinds of fibers are called hybrid composites. The most popular hybrid composites are glass-carbon and aramid-carbon hybrids. The addition of carbon fibers to glass-fiber-reinforced composites will produce a hybrid composite with increased stiffness and satisfactory strength at a reasonably low cost. In this work, low-velocity impact damage characteristics and compressive strength after impact of quasi-isotropic glass-carbon hybrid laminates are investigated. Low-velocity impact test is performed using a drop weight type impact test system and the damage zone due to impact is detected by C-scan. Compression after impact tests of single composites, delamination-simulated specimens and hybrid composites are performed to compare the residual compressive strength each other. Also the low-velocity impact damage characteristics and hybrid design of the glass-carbon hybrid laminates are discussed.