High-speed infrared thermal imaging during ballistic impact of triaxially braided composites

Abstract

Ballistic impact experiments were performed on triaxially braided polymer matrix composites to study the heat generated in the material due to projectile velocity and penetration damage. Triaxially braided (0/+60/−60) composite panels were manufactured with T700S standard modulus carbon fiber and two epoxy resins. The PR520 (toughened) and 3502 (untoughened) resin systems were used to make different panels to study the effects of resin properties on temperature rise. The ballistic impact tests were conducted using a single stage gas gun, and different projectile velocities were applied to study the effect on the temperature results. Temperature contours were obtained from the back surface of the panel during the test through a high speed, infrared thermal imaging system. The contours show that high temperatures were locally generated and more pronounced along the axial tows for the T700S/PR520 composite panels; whereas, tests performed on T700S/3502 composite panels, using similar impact velocities, demonstrated a widespread area of lower temperature rises. Nondestructive, ultrasonic C-scan analyses were performed to observe the failure patterns in the impacted composite panels and correlate the C-scan results with the temperature contours. Overall, the impact experimentation showed temperatures exceeding 252℃ (485°F) in both composites which is well above the respective glass transition temperatures for the polymer constituents. This expresses the need for further high strain rate testing with measurement of the temperature and deformation fields in order to fully understand the complex behavior and failure of the material and to improve the confidence in designing aerospace components with these materials.

Keywords

Triaxially braided composites high speed thermal imaging ballistic impact failure

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Roberts

Pereira

Braley

et al.

Design and testing of braided composite fan case materials and components 2009. NASA Technical Report TM-2009-215811.

Roberts GD, Pereira JM, Revilock D, et al. Ballistic impact of composite plates and half-rings with soft projectiles. In: 44th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC structures, structural dynamics, and materials conference, Norfolk, VA, 7-10 April 2003.

Roberts

Pereira

Revilock Jr

et al.

Ballistic impact of braided composites with a soft projectile. J Aerosp Eng 2005; 18: 3–7.

Roberts GD, Goldberg RK, Binienda WK, et al. Characterization of triaxial braided composite material properties for impact simulation. NASA Technical Reports TM-2009-215660, 2009.

Pereira

Roberts

Ruggeri

et al.

Experimental techniques for evaluating the effects of aging on impact and high strain rate properties of triaxial braided composite materials 2010. NASA Technical Reports TM-2010-216763.

Haijun

Lulu

Guangtao

et al.

Impact response and damage evolution of triaxial braided carbon/epoxy composites. Part I: ballistic impact testing. Text Res J 2013; 83: 1703–1716.

Pereira JM, Revilock DM, Ruggeri CR, et al. The effects of hygrothermal aging on the impact penetration resistance of triaxially braided composites. In: 31st annual American society for composites technical conference, Williamsburg, VA, 19-21 September 2016.

Ruggeri CR. High strain rate data acquisition of 2D braided composite substructures. MSc Thesis, The University of Akron, 2009.

Ulven

Vaidya

Hosur

. Effect of projectile shape during ballistic perforation of VARTM carbon/epoxy composite panels. Compos Struct 2003; 61: 143–150.

10.

López-Puente

Zaera

Navarro

. The effect of low temperatures on the intermediate and high velocity impact response of CFRPs. Compos Part B Eng 2002; 33: 559–566.

11.

Hosur

Vaidya

Ulven

et al.

Performance of stitched/unstitched woven carbon/epoxy composites under high velocity impact loading. Compos Struct 2004; 64: 455–466.

12.

Cantwell

Morton

. Comparison of the low and high velocity impact response of CFRP. Composites 1989; 20: 545–551.

13.

Sun

Potti

. A simple model to predict residual velocities of thick composite laminates subjected to high velocity impact. Int J Impact Eng 1996; 18: 339–353.

14.

Cantwell

Morton

. The impact resistance of composite materials – a review. Composites 1991; 22: 347–362.

15.

Goldsmith

Dharan

CKH

Chang

. Quasi-static and ballistic perforation of carbon fiber laminates. Int J Solids Struct 1995; 32: 89–103.

16.

Flanagan

Zikry

Wall

et al.

An Experimental Investigation of High Velocity Impact and Penetration Failure Modes in Textile Composites. Compos Mater 1999; 33: 1080–1103.

17.

ASTM D8101/D8101M-17. Standard test method for measuring the penetration resistance of composite materials to impact by a blunt projectile, West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International, 2017.

18.

Meola

Carlomagno

. Infrared thermography of impact-driven thermal effects. Appl Phys A 2009; 96: 759–762.

19.

Meola

Carlomagno

. Impact damage in GFRP: new insights with infrared thermography. Compos Part Appl Sci Manuf 2010; 41: 1839–1847.

20.

Meola C, Carlomagno GM, Ricci F, et al. Investigation of impact damage in composites with infrared thermography. In: 6th NDT in progress proceedings of International Workshop of NDT Experts, Prague, Czech Republic, 10-12 October 2011, pp.175–182.

21.

Krstulovic-Opara

Klarin

Neves

et al.

Thermal imaging and thermoelastic stress analysis of impact damage of composite materials. Eng Fail Anal 2011; 18: 713–719.

22.

Meola C, Boccardi S, Boffa ND, et al. Infrared thermography to evaluate impact damaging of composites. In: 16th European conference on composite materials, Seville, Spain, 22-26 June 2014.

23.

Meola

Carlomagno

. Infrared thermography to evaluate impact damage in glass/epoxy with manufacturing defects. Int J Impact Eng 2014; 67: 1–11.

24.

Boccardi

Carlomagno

Simeoli

et al.

Evaluation of impact-affected areas of glass fibre thermoplastic composites from thermographic images. Meas Sci Technol 2016; 27: 075602.

25.

Meola

Boccardi

Boffa

et al.

New perspectives on impact damaging of thermoset-and thermoplastic-matrix composites from thermographic images. Compos Struct 2016; 152: 746–754.

26.

Meola C and Carlomagno GM. Monitoring materials under impact with infrared thermography. In: 2013 Proceedings of Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, Lombard, IL, 3-5 June 2013, pp. 177–185, Springer International Publishing.

27.

Papantonakis MR, Furstenberg R, Nguyen V, et al. Infrared imaging analysis of ballistic impacts of composite armor materials. In: Proceedings of SPIE 9105, Thermosense: Thermal Infrared Applications XXXVI, Baltimore, Maryland, 21 May 2014, p.91050B. International Society for Optics and Photonics.

28.

Marcotte F, Ouellet S and Farley V. Analysis of the ballistic impact response of a composite material using FAST infrared imagery. In: Proceedings of SPIE 8705, Thermosense: Thermal Infrared Applications XXXV, Baltimore, Maryland, 22 May 2013, p.870509. International Society for Optics and Photonics.

29.

Vollmer

Möllmann

K-P

. Infrared thermal imaging: fundamentals, research and applications, Weinheim, Germany: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.

30.

Widger

Woodall

. Integration of the Planck blackbody radiation function. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 1976; 57: 1217–1219.

31.

ASTM E1862. Standard practice for measuring and compensating for reflected temperature using infrared imaging radiometers, West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International, 2014.

32.

ASTM E1933-14. Standard practice for measuring and compensating for emissivity using infrared imaging radiometers, West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International, 2014.