Experimental investigation of the loading rate dependency of the non-linear damageable behaviour of carbon/epoxy laminates

Abstract

The problematic of the presented work is part of a context, where the design of composite structures subjected to a crash or an impact, requires to improve the predictivity of numerical simulations with respect to the sensitivity of the evolution of the degradation mechanisms in the presence of important strain rate gradients. While the influence of increasing loading velocity on the reversible shear behavior of CMOs has been the subject of much work, a limited amount of study is available in the literature regarding the mechanical characterization of irreversible nonlinear behavior over a wide range of strain rate