Low-Velocity Impact on Glass Fibre-Reinforced Aluminium Laminate with a Layer of Elastomer

This study experimentally investigates the low-velocity impact response of hybrid Glass-Reinforced Aluminium Laminate (GLARE 5) composites. Three configurations of hybrid GLARE 5 laminate, each having a layer of EPDM elastomer at a specific interface, and a conventional GLARE 5 laminate were fabricated through hand-layup technique followed by compression moulding. The novelty of the work lies in understanding the effect of elastomer placed at different interfaces on damage severity and energy absorption capacity of the laminates. The contact force between the impactor and the laminate was obtained as a function of time, from which displacement, velocity and energy absorption were calculated. Visual inspection was conducted to quantify the external nature of the damage, while the combined internal and external profiles of damage were quantified using through-transmission ultrasonic scanning. Results indicate that the presence of the elastomer layer enhances lateral deflection in the vicinity of the impactor, reducing localised transverse deflection. Consequently, the hybrid GLARE 5 configurations showed less severe interlayer damage compared to the conventional GLARE 5. Particularly, the elastomer placed between the bottom layer of the aluminium and the adjacent of the composite layer resulted in maximum energy absorption.