A Study of Impact Response of Composite Pipe

Abstract

The objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of the low-velocity impact phenomena of composite pipe. The focus was on test method development, and material and damage characterization. A drop weight tower tester was designed in this investigation. The dynamic tests were conducted using three different impactor geometries, velocities, and masses. It was found that the damage was localized and on the outer surface of the pipe in the case of the conical and wedge tip impactors. On the other hand, the damage zone was larger than the impact zone for the hemispherical impactor, and cracks were first seen within the inner surface of the pipe. This implies that the hemispherical tip impactor caused more damage to the pipe than the conical or wedge tips. The energy absorbed slightly increased with an increase in velocity or in mass. The contact period for the conical impactor was the longest. The velocity and mass of the impactor had only a slight effect on that period. The wedge impactor generated the largest peak force. The energy absorbed by the two composite pipes under low-velocity impact was studied. The specimen-1, Derakane 411-45 resin with less glass fiber, seemed to absorb more energy compared to the specimen-2, Derakane 470-36 resin with more glass fiber. In addition, the specimen-2 exhibited a slightly higher maximum impact force. Therefore, impact response is sensitive to fiber content.