Ain Shams Engineering Journal (2012) 3, 105–111

Ain Shams University

Ain Shams Engineering Journal

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CIVIL ENGINEERING

Impact behavior of glass fibers reinforced

composite laminates at different temperatures
Amal A.M. Badawy *

Materials Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig, 44519, Egypt

Received 22 October 2011; revised 24 December 2011; accepted 3 January 2012

Available online 16 February 2012

KEYWORDS Abstract The impact behavior of glass fibers reinforced polyester (GFRP) was experimentally
Fiber-reinforced polymer; investigated using notched Izod impact test specimen. The experimental program was carried out
Laminates; on unidirectional laminate of GFRP in directions 0, 45 and 90 in addition to cross-ply laminate
Cross-ply; ð0=90=0Þs . The effect of fiber volume fraction, Vf% (16%, 23.2% and 34.9%) was considered. The
Unidirectional; impact specimens were tested after exposure to temperatures of 10 C, 20 C, 50 C and 80 C for
Impact strength exposure time of 1 h and 3 h. Test results showed that the effect of exposure temperature and fiber
volume fraction on impact strength of GFRP composite depends on the parameter controlling the
mode of failure, i.e. matrix or fiber. The failure characteristic changed from fiber pull-out to fiber
breakage with increasing the exposure temperature.
 2012 Ain Shams University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
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1. Introduction military structures. These materials are being used increasingly

The response of composite materials under dynamic loading
has received much attention recently. Application of the mate-
rials can be found both in the transportation industry and in
* Tel.: +2 01221400124.
E-mail address: aam_badawy@yahoo.com
2090-4479  2012 Ain Shams University. Production and hosting by
Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Peer review under responsibility of Ain Shams University.
doi:10.1016/j.asej.2012.01.001
Production and hosting by Elsevier
due to their superior strength, light weight and adaptable de-
sign, where the ability to tailor their mechanical properties
by the choice of fiber, fiber direction and matrix. However,
in dynamic situations their behavior is very complex due to a
large number of factors that govern their response. These fac-
tors include impact velocity, specimen geometry, impactor size,
clamping mode, matrix properties and reinforcement geometry
[1]. In contrast to metals which absorb energy in elastic–plastic
deformation, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) exhibit a variety
of fracture mechanisms including matrix deformation and mi-
cro-cracking, interfacial debonding, lamina splitting, delami-
nation, fiber breakage and fiber pull-out [2]. The effect of
fiber volume fraction on the impact performance of glass fiber
reinforced polymer (GFRP) was studied by various investiga-
tions with contradictory results. It was found that, the increase
in the fiber content introduced increasing in impact resistance
[3–5]. However, Khalid [6] found an opposite trend. He found
106 A.A.M. Badawy

that the increase in the fiber content leads to a reduction in the

impact resistance.
The study of impact response of laminated composites sub-
jected to environmental conditions other than ambient is more
realistic. The investigated temperatures are express to the
ambient temperature in which the composite materials are
used. The previous investigations studied the effect of temper-
ature ranging from 50 to 120 on the impact behavior of com-
posite material. The effect of exposure temperature on the
impact performance of GFRP was studied by few investiga-
tions [7–10]. It was found that, the increase in temperature
leads to a decrease in the impact resistance. On the contrary,
another study [6] found inverse behavior, where an increase
in the impact resistance was found with increasing tempera-
ture. Therefore, the influence of temperature on the impact
behavior of composite laminate still under focus and need
more study. In the present study, the impact specimens were
exposed to temperatures of 10 C, 20 C, 50 C and 80 C
for exposure time of 1 h and 3 h before testing. These advanced
laminates are susceptible to impact damage either during
assembly or in service. In particular, the internal delamination
being the major mode of damage, generated often due to the
relatively low interlaminar shear strengths, is not visible on
the impact surface and is likely to grow under subsequent load-
ing which can lead to a significant loss in structural stiffness,
strength and lead to catastrophic failure [11–16]. Therefore,
it is of vital importance to have a better understanding of
the impact characteristics, energy absorption and induced
damage of the laminated composite. Topics on this issue are
still open for investigation. Therefore, the objective of this
work is to study the influence of the fiber volume fraction, tem-
perature and exposure time on the impact strength and failure
modes of composite laminate.
2. Experimental work
2.1. Materials and specimens
Table 2 The condition and measurement gauge for the tested
specimens.
Temperature (C) Test condition Measurement gauge
10 Refrigerator Infrared thermometer
(FLUKE 61)
20 Oven Temperature indicator
50 Oven Temperature indicator
80 Oven Temperature indicator
with thickness of 4 ± 0.2 mm having V notch of 45 with a
depth of 2 mm prepared by milling machine.
The experimental program was carried out on GFRP unidi-
rectional laminates in directions 0, 45 and 90 in addition to
cross-ply laminate ð0=90=0Þs to study the impact behavior with
the variation of fiber volume fractions, Vf%, (16%, 23.2% and
34.9%) and exposure temperature (10 C, 20 C, 50 C and
80 C) at exposure time of 1 h and 3 h. A brief description of
the parameters investigated in the present study is illustrated
in Table 1. Five specimens for each test condition were pre-
pared. This leads to the fabrication of 265 test specimens.
2.2. Test procedures
The 6709 (Avery-Denison limited) machine was used to con-
duct the impact test. A hammer and a digital attachment for
recording the energy absorption were used to perform the
tests. The impact speed was fixed at 3.46 m/s. The Frazer of
refrigerator was used for cooling the specimens while an oven
was used for heating the other specimens. An infrared ther-
mometer (FLUKE 61) was used to check that the specimen
temperature is maintained at the desired temperature. Expo-
sure time was 1 h and 3 h. Table 2 shows the test condition
and measurement gauge for the tested specimens. Computer
Light Microscope, USB 2.0 digital microscope, of magnifica-
tion up to 250X was used to assess the type and extent of
damage.

The materials used in this work were E-glass fibers in roving
form as a reinforcement and polyester resin (Resipole 9588
ST) as a matrix. The methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (1% by
weight of resin) was used as catalyst and Cobalt naphthenate
(0.2% by weight of resin) as accelerator. The laminated com-
posites were made in form of plates consist of five layers by
hand lay-up technique (ISO 1268). The mould was hardening
at room temperature for 24 h, then the plate removed from
the mould and matured for 21 days before machining the spec-
imen. The specimens were carefully cut to the required dimen-
sions of the impact test according to ASTM D256. The notched
Izod impact specimen dimensions were 63.5 mm · 12.7 mm
3. Results and discussion
Results of this study include the impact strength of unidirec-
tional and cross-ply laminates in addition to failure mechanism
and microscopic examination of composite specimens.
3.1. The impact energy of unidirectional laminate
Fig. 1 shows the variation of impact strength with fiber volume
fractions for unidirectional composite laminates at different fi-
ber orientation after exposure to temperature of 20 C for 3 h.

Table 1 Parameters investigated in the present study.

Type of material Fiber direction Vf% Temperature (C) Exp. time (h) No. Spec.
0 16 23.2 34.9 10 20 50 80 1 3
Polyester – – – 40
Unidirectional 0 – – – 45
Laminate 45 – – – 45
90 – – – 15
Cross-ply laminate ð0=90=0Þs – 120
Impact behavior of glass fibers reinforced composite 107

400 composites is higher than that of 90 unidirectional laminated

composites.
2

Laminate orientation The effect of exposure temperature on impact strength of 0

Impact strength, kJ/m

300 unidirectional composite with different fiber volume fractions

0 is shown in Fig. 3. The Figure illustrates that, the impact
200 45
strength decreases with increasing the exposure temperature
for GFRP specimens, while it increases for the polyester
90
100
600
Vf

2
0 500 0°unidirection 0%

Impact strength, kJ/m

0 10 20 30 40 16%
Fiber volume fraction, V f % 400 23.2%
34.9%
Figure 1 Effect of fiber volume fraction on impact strength for 300
unidirectional laminates at 20 C.
200

100
It is observed that, the impact strength increases with increas-
ing Vf% for 0 unidirectional laminated specimens. However, 0
insignificant effect of fiber volume fractions on impact strength -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
was observed for laminates with fibers orientation of 45 and Exposure temperature,ºC
90. Fig. 2 illustrates the modes of failure for unidirectional
Figure 3 The variation of impact strength with exposure
composite laminated specimens with Vf = 34.9% at different
temperature for 0 unidirectional composite laminate.
fiber orientation. It is clear that, in the case of 0 unidirectional
composite laminate, the presence of fibers arrest the crack
propagation in the test specimen and the final failure was 250
due to delamination between layers in the compression zone,
see Fig. 2a. Therefore, fiber volume fractions plays a crucial
2
Impact strength, kJ/m

200
rule in the impact strength of 0 unidirectional composite lam-
inate. On the other hand, the cracks propagate in the direction 150
of fibers in the case of 45 and 90 unidirectional laminated Vf
composites result in fracture in these directions, see Fig. 2b
100 16%
and c. Therefore, there is no significant effect of fiber volume
fractions in theses fiber directions. In the case of 45 unidirec- 23.2%
45°unidirection
50 34.9%
tional laminated composites both fibers and matrix control the
failure by different mechanism, while in the case of 90 unidi-
0
rectional laminated composites the whole behavior is con- -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
trolled by the matrix with no contribution to the fibers. Exposure temperature,ºC
Also, the length of crack path in the case of 45 unidirectional
laminated is longer than that of 90 unidirectional laminated. Figure 4 The variation of impact strength with exposure
Thus the impact strength of 45 unidirectional laminated temperature for 45 unidirectional composite laminate.

Figure 2 Failure modes of (a) 0 unidirectional laminate, (b) 45 unidirectional laminate and (c) 90 unidirectional laminate, at
Vf = 34.9%.
108 A.A.M. Badawy

specimens. The variation of impact strength with exposure
temperature for 45 unidirectional composite laminate speci-
mens having different Vf% is shown in Fig. 4. As expected,
the behavior of specimens with this fiber orientation is similar
to the behavior of polyester (matrix) in Fig. 3. This is because
the matrix controlling the behavior of laminate in this fiber ori-
entation. The increase in temperature leads to tougher matrix
(softening) consequentially more energy is required to fracture
the test specimen. The figure also illustrates that the increase in
Vf% leads to a decrease in the impact strength especially at low
temperature. Thus, it can be concluded that the effect of expo-
sure temperature and fiber volume fraction on impact strength
400
Impact strength, kJ/m2
of unidirectional GFRP composite depends on the parameter
controlling the mode of failure, i.e. matrix or fiber.
3.2. The impact energy of cross-ply laminate
Fig. 5 shows the effect of exposure temperature for 3 h on im-
pact strength for cross-ply laminate with different Vf %. The
figure illustrates that, the impact strength decreases with
increasing the exposure temperature for cross-ply GFRP spec-
imens. The decrease in the impact strength is insignificant for
low Vf %, i.e. Vf = 16%, up to exposure temperature of
80 C. Similar trend is observed for the higher percentages of
fiber volume fraction up to 50 C. Above 50 C, a noticeable
reduction in the impact strength is recorded. The figure also
shows that, the increase in Vf% leads to an increase in the im-
pact strength of cross-ply GFRP specimens. It is clear from the

Vf
300 impact strength results of unidirectional GFRP laminates that,
0%
0 unidirectional composite is directly proportional to fiber
16% volume fraction and inversely proportional to exposure tem-
200 perature (fibers control laminate behavior). On the other hand,
23.2%
an opposite trend is observed for 90 unidirectional composites
34.9%
100 and polyester (matrix control laminate behavior). This means
that the behavior of cross-ply specimens under impact loads
is a combination between the behavior of 0 and 90 unidirec-
0 tional composites in addition to the effect of delamination be-
-20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
tween layers.
Exposure temperature,ºC Fig. 6 shows the damage area of cross-ply specimens for dif-
Figure 5 Effect of exposure temperature on impact strength for ferent Vf% exposed to temperatures of (a) 10 C and (b)
cross-ply laminate. +80 C for 3 h. The behavior of these materials can be
understood by observing the white zone near the fracture

Figure 6 Impacted specimens for different Vf% exposed to temperatures of (a) 10 C and (b) +80 C.
Impact behavior of glass fibers reinforced composite 109

surface. It is clear that more damage, as indicated by the white
zone in the images, are induced at lower temperature than at
higher temperature. A possible reason for this is that, the dif-
ference between the impact strength of 0 and 90 unidirec-
tional composites at a low temperature is much higher than
that at higher temperature, i.e. more delamination at lower
temperature, as shown in Fig. 6a. The reduction in white zone
correlates well with create less damage and absorb less energy
for specimens impacted at high temperature, as shown in
Fig. 6b. The figure also indicate that increasing fiber volume
fraction make the fracture difficult. The notch impact strength
is generally reflects the energy required to propagate an exist-
ing notch in the specimen. The role of fibers on the propaga-
tion of a crack through a matrix is to increase the volume in
which energy dissipation can take place. The presence of fibers
also increases the number of potential energy absorbing mech-
anisms in the system.
This analysis can further validated by using a light micro-
scope inspection to the fracture surface of specimens. Fig. 7
illustrates the fracture surface for cross-ply specimen with
Vf = 23.2% at two different exposure temperatures of (a)
10 C and (b) +80 C. At low temperature (10 C), low
bond strength between matrix and fibers is expected. This
makes the fibers that fractured away from the crack interface
will be pulled out from the matrix at different sections, which
may involve more energy dissipation. On the other hand,
increasing exposed temperature (+80 C) leads to softening
the matrix and thus enhancing the bond between fibers and
matrix. This bond enhancement results in fibers breakage at
approximately one section. This explanation is observed
clearly in Fig. 7. In general, the failure characteristic changed
from fiber pull-out to fiber breakage with increasing the expo-
sure temperature.
The effect of exposure time on the impact strength for
cross-ply laminate with different fiber volume fractions at
different exposure temperatures is shown in Fig. 8. It is clear
that, the impact strength of polyester specimens exposed to
3 h is higher than those exposed to 1 h for all exposure

(a) Fiber pull-out (b) Fiber breakage

0.08 mm 0.08 mm

Figure 7 Fracture surface for specimens with Vf = 23.2% after exposure to temperatures of (a) 10 C and (b) +80 C.

400 400
2
Impact strength, kJ/m

1 hr 3 hr (a) -10°C 1 hr 3 hr (b) 20°C

300 300

200 200

100 100

0 0
0% 16% 23.2% 34.9% 0% 16% 23.2% 34.9%

400 400
(c) 50°C (d) 80°C
2

1 hr 3 hr 1 hr 3 hr
Impact strength, kJ/m

300 300

200 200

100 100

0 0
0% 16% 23.2% 34.9% 0% 16% 23.2% 34.9%
Vf Vf

Figure 8 Effect of exposure time on impact strength for cross-ply laminate with different Vf% at different exposure temperature (a)
10 C, (b) 20 C, (c) 50 C and (d) 80 C.
110
400
2
Impact strength, kJ/m
300
200
100
0 whole temperature range and for all fiber volume fractions.
-20 0 20 40
Exposure temperature,ºC
unidirection,16% Cross-ply,16%
unidirection, 23.2% Cross-ply, 23.2%
unidirection, 34.9% Cross-ply, 34.9%
Figure 9 The variation of impact strength with exposure
temperature for 0 unidirectional and cross-ply laminates.
temperatures. On the other hand, the figure demonstrates a
marginal effect of exposure time on the impact strength of
cross-ply laminate with different fiber volume fractions at dif-
ferent exposure temperatures.
3.3. Comparison between unidirectional and cross-ply laminates
Comparison between the impact strength of 0 unidirectional
and cross-ply laminated composites is shown in Fig. 9. The fig-
ure illustrates that the 0 unidirectional laminated composite
present higher impact strength than the cross-ply laminate
within the whole temperature range and for all fiber volume
fractions. This behavior may be explained as follows: using
the Izod impact test, all the fibers in the unidirectional lami-
nate specimens were perpendicular to the direction of the ap-
plied load, while only a portion of fibers were perpendicular
to the direction of the applied load in the cross-ply laminate
specimens. An opposite trend was found by Ibekwe et al. [9]
using drop weight impact test.
4. Conclusions
From the present experimental results, the following conclu-
sions can be drawn:
1. Fiber orientation and fiber volume fraction are important
microstructure parameters in the impact characterization
of GFRP composite, where the impact strength increased
with increasing Vf% for 0 unidirectional specimens, while
insignificant effect of fiber volume fractions on impact
strength was observed for 45 and 90 unidirectional
composites.
2. Increasing fiber volume fraction increased the impact
strength for cross-ply laminated composites.
3. The impact strength decreased with increasing the exposure
temperature for both 0 unidirectional and cross-ply lami-
nated composites, while increased for the polyester
specimens.
A.A.M. Badawy
4. The effect of exposure temperature and fiber volume fraction
on impact strength of GFRP composite depends on the
parameter controlling the mode of failure, i.e. matrix or fiber.
5. The impact strength of polyester specimens exposed to 3 h
was higher than that exposed to 1 h for all exposure tem-
peratures. On the other hand, a marginal effect of exposure
time on the impact strength of cross-ply laminate was
recorded for all temperature range.
6. The 0 unidirectional laminated composite presented higher
impact strength than the cross-ply laminate within the
60 7. More impact damaged area was induced in specimens
impacted at lower temperatures than those at higher tem-
peratures. In general, the failure characteristic changed
from fiber pull-out to fiber breakage with increasing the
exposure temperature.
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Impact behavior of glass fibers reinforced composite 111

Amal A. M. Badawy is an Associate Professor

in Engineering Materials Department, Faculty
of Engineering, Zagazig University, March
2005-Now. The author graduated from
Zagazig University in 1986 and received her
M.Sc. Degree in 1992. She obtained her Ph.D.
Degree in 1998. Her Fields of interest are in
Composite Materials & Properties and
Strength of Materials.