Experimental and numerical study on the high-velocity hail impact performance of carbon fiber aluminum alloy laminates

The experiment and finite element method (FEM) simulation of high-velocity hail impact on carbon fiber reinforced aluminum alloy laminates (CARALL) were carried out in this paper. CARALL were prepared via an autoclave process after surface anodizing. The properties of the specimens were verified by mechanical properties testing. The light gas gun was employed to conduct the hail impact tests with different impact velocities, impact angles and ply sequences. The surface damage, displacement of the impact center and deformation depth in different test schemes were compared. The FEM model of the high-velocity impact of hail on CARALL was established using ABAQUS/Explicit. The strain-rate dependent model was adopted for hail while the Johnson-Cook damage constitutive model was adopted for the aluminum alloy layer. The 3D Hashin criterion damage model based on fracture energy was applied for the CFRP layer via the VUMAT subroutine. The cohesive element was inserted between the laminates to investigate the interlaminar damage. The accuracy of FEM was verified by comparing with the results obtained by tests. Combined with the energy absorption and internal damage mechanism, the effects of different parameters on the hail impact resistance of CARALL were studied.