ABSTRACT
Impact damage in carbon fibre reinforced plastic composites in aerospace structures may result from such causes as runway stones or dropped tools during maintenance. The damage takes the form of delaminations between plies, broken fibres and matrix splits. The damage may weaken the structure significantly, and furthermore may grow under monotonic load or by fatigue. The work described here analyses the effect of delaminations produced by artificial means as a first stage in the analysis of impact damage. Tests were carried out under monotonic load to measure the increase in size of the delamination and the results compared with a finite element analysis. The finite element model predicted both the load at which growth initiated, and change in geometry of the delaminated area as growth progressed.
