Advances in Materials and Processing Technologies

ISSN: 2374-068X (Print) 2374-0698 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tmpt20

Influence of fibre orientation and thickness on the

response of CFRP composites subjected to high
velocity impact loading

R. Velmurugan, K. Naresh & K. Shankar

To cite this article: R. Velmurugan, K. Naresh & K. Shankar (2017): Influence of fibre orientation
and thickness on the response of CFRP composites subjected to high velocity impact loading,
Advances in Materials and Processing Technologies, DOI: 10.1080/2374068X.2017.1410688

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/2374068X.2017.1410688

Published online: 10 Dec 2017.

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 Advances in Materials and Processing Technologies, 2017
https://doi.org/10.1080/2374068X.2017.1410688

Influence of fibre orientation and thickness on the response

of CFRP composites subjected to high velocity impact loading
R. Velmurugana, K. Nareshb and K. Shankarb
a
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India; bDepartment
of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
Downloaded by [RMIT University Library] at 09:30 12 December 2017

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

In the current work, the energy absorption, ballistic limit and residual Accepted 25 November 2017
velocities for different laminate ply orientations [(0/90), (0/90/30/-60),
KEYWORDS
(0/90/45/-45) and (30/-60/60/-30)] and thicknesses [2 mm and 4 mm] Carbon/epoxy; ballistic limit;
of woven roving carbon fiber reinforced polymer [CFRP] composites energy absorption; residual
are experimentally and theoretically studied. High strain rate tensile velocity; fracture toughness
test results are used as reference values for the theoretical studies.
Using an air gun, experiments are carried out to impact the carbon/
epoxy laminates by a rigid conical steel bullet of 9.5 mm diameter and
mass of 8 g. The results obtained from this study indicate that the (0/90)
laminates absorb more energy and also have a higher ballistic limit
than other lay-up sequences while energy absorption and ballistic
limit are minimum for (30/-60/60/-30) laminates. The ballistic limit and
energy absorption capacity of the plates increase whereas the residual
velocity of the projectile decreases with the increase in thickness
for laminates of all orientations. Using an Instron universal testing
machine, end-notched flexure (ENF) tests are performed to determine
the mode-II fracture toughness for the carbon/epoxy composites of
different orientations. These results are used in the energy calculations
and the influence of the mode -II fracture toughness on the energy
absorption studies is discussed.

1. Introduction
Composites are used in body armours (bullet-proof jackets), military and civilian aircrafts
due to their light weight, high stiffness and strength. These structures are subjected to impact
loadings such as bird hit or projectile hit on the aircraft, runway debris hit on the gas tur-
bine blades and so on. Bullet-proof jackets are normally subjected to high velocity impact.
Thus, it is important to know the penetration process, the energy absorption capacity and
ballistic limit of the laminated composite plates for efficient design of the structures. The
fibre orientation and thickness influence the energy absorption capacity and ballistic limit
of the plates. The ballistic limit is defined as the velocity at which the projectile penetrates
the composite plate with zero exit velocity. The projectile rebounds after hitting the target
material and the residual velocity does not exist when the projectile velocity is less than

CONTACT  R. Velmurugan  ramanv@iitm.ac.in

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
 2   R. VELMURUGAN ET AL.

the ballistic limit. Higher the resistance offered by the material, higher the ballistic limit.
Researchers have focused on bullet impact experiments of fibre-reinforced composites to
determine the ballistic limit, energy absorption and residual velocity of the plates [1,2]. The
ballistic limit and energy absorption capacity increase with the increase of thickness [3]. Sun
and Potti [4] experimentally and theoretically studied the penetration process of quasi-iso-
tropic ([0/90/±45]s) graphite/epoxy laminates. The results showed that the experimental
and predicted residual velocities are in good agreement. Zhu et al. [5,6] conducted the
bullet impact experiments on the Kevlar/polyester laminates using conical tipped projectile
for the speeds of above and at the ballistic limit. They developed an analytical model for
projectile penetration using laminate plate theory which had three stages (1) indentation
(2) perforation and (3) exit phase of the projectile. In the first two stages (indentation and
perforation) friction is neglected but friction is the only mechanism employed for exit
phase. Hosur et al. [7] performed high velocity impact tests on stitched and unstitched
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woven roving carbon/epoxy composites which have plain and satin weave carbon fabrics
and toughened epoxy resin. The stitching was done to increase the damage resistance using
kevlar thread with the help of stitching machine. The results show that the damage size and
ballistic limit are lower for stitched plates than unstitched plates. It has also been reported
that due to higher thickness and fabric architecture, the satin weave laminates have higher
ballistic limits than plain wave laminates.
Though there are some research papers, available in the literature, it is still essential to
have proper understanding of the laminates for impact situations, since the material is
anisotropic and the failure modes are not well understood. Therefore, further experimen-
tal studies are required. Hence, in the present study, carbon/epoxy composites of different
orientations are subjected to impact and the ballistic limit, energy absorption studies are
observed. The effect of orientation and thickness on the impact performance is studied.
Theoretical studies are carried out to find the ballistic limit, residual velocity and the energy
absorption and the results match well with the experimental results.

2.  Materials selection and laminate preparation

Carbon/epoxy laminates are made from carbon fibre woven roving mat of 450 gsm and epoxy
resin [araldite LY-556 with hardener HY-951]. Using compression moulding technique, car-
bon/epoxy laminates of four different orientations [(0/90), (0/90/30/−60), (0/90/45/−45),
and (30/−60/60/−30)] are prepared. For each orientation, laminates of different thicknesses
(four layers and eight layers) are fabricated and the thickness of each layer is 0.4  mm.
Specimens are prepared for bullet impact, end-notched flexure (ENF) and quasi-static ten-
sile tests using water jet cutting. The dimensions are 145 mm × 145 mm for bullet impact,
150 mm × 25 mm for end-notched flexural and 250 mm × 25 mm for quai-static tensile tests.

3.  Experimental setup

As per ASTM D3039, quasi-static tensile tests are performed at the nominal crosshead speed
of 5 mm/min on a 400 kN FIE (Model: UTE 40) universal testing machine. The electronic
clip-on extensometer (Model: EE-2) is used for measuring the specimen deformation. Using
the Instron universal testing machine, ENF tests are conducted at the crosshead speed of
5 mm/min to determine the mode-II interlaminar fracture toughness. The crack length of
 ADVANCES IN MATERIALS AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES   3

50 mm is introduced by placing 100 micron Mylar sheet in the third ply while preparing
the six layer laminates. The specimens are placed in the fixture such a way that the total
span length of 100 mm between the supports and initial crack length of 25 mm from one
support are maintained for end notched flexure test. The inserted crack extends when
bending loads are applied at the centre of the specimen. It is observed for all orientations of
the laminates. The maximum load and the corresponding displacement values are used for
calculating the fracture toughness. The mode-II interlaminar fracture toughness is obtained
by using the expression [8,9].

9F𝛼 2 𝛿 × 1000
GIIc = (1)
2B[0.25L3 + 3𝛼 3 ]

where: F is the load; α is the initial crack length which is 25 mm; 𝛿 is the displacement; L and
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B are the span length and width of the specimen which are 100 mm and 25 mm, respectively.
Bullet impact experiments are performed to determine the ballistic limit, energy absorp-
tion and residual velocity of carbon/epoxy laminated plates using an air gun (Figure 1) in
which the compressed air is used to propel the projectile. A Phantom (Model: V611) high
speed camera is used to monitor the projectile path.
Composite specimens of different orientations are subjected to bullet impact, quasi-static
tensile and end notched flexural tests and the failed specimens are shown in Figures 2–4,
respectively.

4.  Results and discussion

The quasi-static tensile stress-strain curves for different orientations of carbon/epoxy com-
posites are shown in Figure 5. From the figure, it is observed that the (0/90) laminate has
higher tensile strength, strain and modulus whereas (30/−60/60/−30) laminate has lower
values as compared to other laminates. Even though the (0/90/30/−60) laminate has more
strength and stiffness than (0/90/45/−45) laminate, the failure strain of the latter is higher.
The energy absorption capacity of the plates depends on strength as well as failure strain.
From Figure 4(ii), it is seen that the crack is extended up to the midpoint of the specimen

Figure 1. Gas gun experimental setup.

 4   R. VELMURUGAN ET AL.
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Figure 2. Typical eight layers ballistic impact failed specimens at an initial velocity of 140 m/s (a) (0/90)
(b) (0/90/30/−60) (c) (0/90/45/−45) (d) (30/−60/60/−30).

when loads are applied at the centre. The tensile mode of failure occurs in Mode I fracture
toughness [10]. In contrast to Mode I failure, the sliding shear occurs in Mode II failure.
Carbon/epoxy laminates are subjected to different impact velocities. The ballistic limit,
energy absorption and the residual velocities are calculated. The captured projectile path
images by high speed camera are clearly indicating that the projectile is rebounding for
the velocity less than the ballistic limit while the projectile is completely penetrated for
the operating velocities above the ballistic limit, which are shown in Figures 6 and 7. The
ballistic limit of the laminates is obtained from different trials by varying the velocities over
a range. At the ballistic limit, the projectile penetrated into the plate with zero exit velocity.
Analytical expressions (Equations (2)–(10)) are developed for bullet impact studies
[1,11–13] and are used for the present study to compare the experimental results.
Energy absorption (E0) of composite plate is given as
E0 = ETF + EED + ESP + EDL + EMC + EKE (2)
where ETF is energy absorbed by tensile failure of the primary yarns; EED is energy absorbed
by elastic deformation of the secondary yarns; Esp is energy absorbed in shear plug for-
mation; EDL is energy absorbed by laminates in delamination; EMC is energy absorbed by
laminates in matrix cracking; and EKE is the kinetic energy of the moving cone.
The fibres below the projectile are primary yarns and the remaining fibres away from this
region are called as secondary yarns (Figure 8), which absorb some energy during projectile
perforation. The portion which is underneath the projectile during penetration, result in
 ADVANCES IN MATERIALS AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES   5
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Figure 3.  Typical eight layers quasi-static tensile failed specimens (a) (0/90) (b) (0/90/30/−60) (c)
(0/90/45/−45) (d) (30/−60/60/−30).

Figure 4. Typical six layers end notched flexure failed specimens (i) top view (ii) side view (a) (0/90) (b)
(0/90/30/−60) (c) (0/90/45/−45) (d) (30/−60/60/−30).

failure of fibres in the form of compression and tension in the thickness and radial direction
due to bending. Complete penetration occurs when all the fibres below the projectile fail. The
primary yarns will have maximum strain and especially the topmost layer will be strained
more due to direct hit by the projectile. At velocities slightly above the ballistic limit, these
 6   R. VELMURUGAN ET AL.
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Figure 5. Tensile stress-strain curves for different fibre orientations of typical eight layers CFRP laminates.

Figure 6. High speed camera images of typical eight layers (0/90/45/−45) carbon/epoxy laminate at an
initial velocity of 85 m/s (a) Projectile approaching the target (b) Projectile hitting the target (c) Projectile
rebounding from the target.

Figure 7. High speed camera images of typical eight layers (0/90/45/−45) carbon/epoxy laminate at an
initial velocity of 140 m/s (a) Projectile approaching the target (b) Projectile hitting the target (c) Projectile
after penetration.
 ADVANCES IN MATERIALS AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES   7
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Figure 8. Primary and secondary yarns on the back side of the carbon/epoxy laminate (a) front view (b)
side view.

layers will fail by crushing while the bottommost layers will be subjected to tensile mode
of failure along the radial direction [14]. The shear plugging is the major energy absorbing
mechanism which forms in brittle materials especially in carbon/epoxy composites due to
lower failure strain at high strain rates. In contrast to this, the shear plugging is rarely forms
in glass/epoxy composites owing to their higher failure strains at high strain rates than
carbon/epoxy composites [12]. High impact force is generated at ballistic impact which
induces matrix cracking and delamination in the laminates. These damage mechanisms
also absorb some amount of energy.
The expressions for the various energy absorption mechanisms are given below:
The energy due to primary yarns is given by
] (𝜀 2 )
𝜋d 2 hE c
[
𝜋d 2 h p
ETF = + 4Rc hd − E (3)
4 4 4

where d is the diameter of the projectile; Rc is the cone radius; h is the laminate thickness;
ɛp is the plastic strain of the laminate; E is the Young’s modulus of the composite; Ec is the
area under the stress-strain curve;
The energy due to elastic deformation of the secondary yarns is given by

𝜋𝜀p 2 hE(Rc2 − d 2 )
EED = (4)
2
 8   R. VELMURUGAN ET AL.

The energy due to shear plugging is given by

ESP = 𝜋dh2 𝜎 (5)
where 𝜎 is the shear plugging strength.
The expression for delamination energy is given as

EDL = (n − 1)𝜋Rc2 GIIc (6)

where n is the number of layers and GII c is the fracture toughness of the composite in
mode-II phase.
The mode-II fracture toughness which is obtained at quasi-static loading is used in
Equation (6) for determining the energy absorption of laminates by delamination, because
the increase in the mode-II fracture toughness for high strain rate loadings are only less
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than 10% as compared to quasi-static values [15].

The energy due to matrix cracking is given by
EMC = 𝜋Rc2 Emt hV m (7)
where Emt is the matrix cracking energy per unit volume and Vm is the matrix volume fraction.
The cone formation is seen on the back side of the laminate when the projectile hits the
target at a velocity which is well above the ballistic limit. The energy absorption of moving cone
is obtained from the kinetic energy ( 21 mv 2 ). The cone mass is considered as zero at the point of
impact and Mc where cone ends. By considering the average of cone mass and the average of the
initial and residual velocities, the expression for energy absorption of moving cone is given by

Mc [V0 + Vr ]2
EKE = (8)
16

where V0 and Vr are the initial and residual velocities, respectively; Mc = 𝜋Rc 2 h𝜌 is the
cone mass;
The ballistic limit and residual velocity expressions are obtained from the energy balance
law
1 1
mp v0 2 = E0 + mp vr 2 (9)
2 2

where 12 mp v0 2 is the initial kinetic energy of the projectile.

By equating the initial kinetic energy to the energy observed by the plates, the expression
for ballistic limit is obtained and is given by the expression
√
16E0
Vb = (10)
8mp − Mc

where Vb is the ballistic limit.

The expression for residual velocity is obtained from Equation (9) and is given by
√
2E
Vr = V02 − 0 (11)
mp
 ADVANCES IN MATERIALS AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES   9

The experimental ballistic limit and residual velocities are calculated by using the Phantom
high speed camera. The energy absorption is calculated from the known initial and resid-
ual velocities by using Equation (11). High strain rate experimental values are taken as
reference values for determining the theoretical energy absorption (Equation (2)) of the
carbon/epoxy laminates from our earlier work [16,17]. Equations (10) and (11) are used to
get the ballistic limit and residual velocities of the laminates, respectively. The comparison
of experimental and theoretical energy absorption values are presented in Table 1 for the
constant initial velocity of 140 m/s.
From Table 1, it is observed that the (0/90) laminates absorb more energy due to high
strength and failure strain than the other laminates. Although the strength and modulus
are higher for (0/90/30/−60) laminates than (0/90/45/−45) laminates, the energy absorption
capacity is lower for the former one due to low failure strain. The deviation between the
experimental and predicted energy absorption values are less than 15, 29, 23 and 30% for
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(0/90), (0/90/30/−60), (0/90/45/−45) and (30/−60/60/−30) carbon/epoxy laminates, respec-

tively. The input values given in Equation (2) are experimentally tested values at the strain
rates from 1.66 × 10−3 s−1 (quasi-static) to 542 s−1 but bullet impact studies are conducted
at the nominal strain rate of 1000 s−1. This might be the reason for the deviation between
experimental and theoretical values. For carbon/epoxy laminates, most of the energy is
absorbed by the failure mechanisms of the secondary yarns and formation of the shear
plugging. The energy absorption of tensile failure of the primary yarns, matrix cracking and
delamination are relatively less as compared to secondary yarns and shear plugging [12].
The obtained mode-II fracture toughness value (Table 1) is minimum for (30/−60/60/−30)
laminates when compared with other laminates.
Figures 9(a) and (b) represent the deviation between experimental and theoretical ballis-
tic limit values which are less than 6.5, 15.5, 11.5 and 16% for the fibre orientations of (0/90),
(0/90/30/−60), (0/90/45/−45) and (30/−60/60/−30) carbon/epoxy laminates, respectively.
For the same lay-up sequences, the residual velocities observed from Figures 10(a) and (b)
which indicate that the deviation is less than 6%. From these figures, it is also noticed that
the ballistic limit increases with the increase in thickness whereas the residual velocity of
the projectile decreases. The (0/90) carbon/epoxy laminates have the higher ballistic limit
as compared to the other laminate configurations and correspondingly the residual velocity
is also less for the (0/90) laminates.
It is observed from Equations (10) and (11) that for the constant initial velocity of
140 m/s, the residual velocity of the projectile decreases with the increase of the energy

Table 1. Comparison of experimental and theoretical energy absorption and mode-II fracture toughness
values for different laminate orientations.
Energy Energy Mode II frac-
Laminate ply Laminate den- absorption absorption ture tough-
orientation No. of plies sity (kg/m3) (Exp.) (J) (Theo.) (J) % error ness (J/m2)
0/90 4 1491 16 14 14.2 1486
8 1628 43 46 6.5
0/90/30/−60 4 1477 7.6 9.3 18.3 1134
8 1632.5 22.7 31.5 28
0/90/45/−45 4 1488 12 9.8 22 1090
8 1611 36 33 9.1
30/−60/60/−30 4 1453 5 6.5 23 864
8 1568 14.9 21 29
 10   R. VELMURUGAN ET AL.
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Figure 9. Ballistic limit for different fibre orientations of CFRP laminates (a) four layers (b) eight layers.

Figure 10. Residual velocities for different fibre orientations of CFRP laminates (a) four layers (b) eight
layers.

absorption capacity of the plates while the ballistic limit is higher for a higher energy
absorption capacity of the plates. These variations are seen in Table 1 and Figures 9 and 10.

5. Conclusions
Ballistic impact experiments are conducted to determine the energy absorption, ballistic
limit and residual velocities of carbon/epoxy laminates of orientations, (0/90), (0/90/30/−60),
(0/90/45/−45), and (30/−60/60/−30) and for two different thicknesses (2 mm and 4 mm).
The experimental results are validated with the theoretical model and these are in good
agreement. The results indicate that the (0/90) laminates resist high impact velocities which
result in higher energy absorption capacity as compared to the other laminates and are rec-
ommended for body armours and aerospace applications. The maximum residual velocity
is obtained when the projectile passes through the (30/−60/60/−30) laminates as compared
to other laminates owing to their less strength, stiffness and failure strain.
 ADVANCES IN MATERIALS AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES   11

Nomenclature

E0  Energy absorption of the composite plate

GIIc  Mode II interlaminar fracture toughness
ETF  Energy absorbed by tensile failure of the primary yarns
EED  Energy absorbed by elastic deformation of the secondary yarns
Esp  Energy absorbed in shear plug formation
EDL  Energy absorbed by laminates in delamination
EMC  Energy absorbed by laminates in matrix cracking
EKE  Energy absorbed by the kinetic energy of the moving cone
d  Diameter of the projectile
h  Laminate thickness
Rc  Cone radius
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ρ  Laminate density
ɛp  Plastic strain of the woven laminate
E  Young’s modulus of the composite
Ec  Area under the stress-strain curve
n  Number of layers
Emt  Matrix cracking energy per unit volume
Vm  Matrix volume fraction
Ek  Kinetic energy
Mc  Cone mass
V0  Initial velocity
Vr  Residual velocity
Vb  Ballistic limit
mp  Mass of the projectile

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding
This work was supported by ACECOST of AR&DB Structures Panel, India.

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