Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics

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J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., Vol. 9, 1976. Printed in Great Britain. 0 1976

The failure of composite materials under high-velocity

liquid impact

D A Gorham and J E Field

Cavendish Laboratory, Madingley Road, Cambridge

Received 29 January 1976, in final form 23 March 1976

Abstract. The paper describes a study of the impact properties of composites of glass
fibre or carbon fibre in polyester or epoxy resin. Impact was by high-velocity water
jets (- 700 m s-l), which previous work has shown successfully simulate rain erosion
damage and other impact situations involving high-stress (of the order of 1 GPa) and
short-duration (few ps) loading. The failure of the composites is analysed and the
damage mechanisms are identified. An assessment is made of the effect of such variables
as reinforcement geometry, volume fraction of fibres, matrix toughness, void content
and surface condition. The main conclusion is that although no ‘ideal’ solution exists
for all impact situations it is possible to establish general rules which assist in the
design of composites for specific purposes.

1. Introduction

Fibre reinforcement provides an opportunity to design a material that more efficiently

fulfils a particular role, and one of the most successful applications has been where
there exists a requirement to minimize the mass of structures. Therefore, much of
modern composite research has been with the overall objective of producing a material
with a higher strength-to-weight ratio or stiffness-to-weight ratio than metals, and at
the same time retaining some degree of fracture toughness. The most important class
of composites in this respect are strong brittle fibres (particularly glass, boron and
carbon) incorporated in a polymeric matrix.
Two particular applications of composites involve a high risk of impact with liquid
drops, namely, high-speed turbine blades, and radomes for supersonic aircraft. In
both of these cases, impact damage is a seriously limiting factor to an otherwise highly
desirable increase of performance. The design of jet-engine compressor blades from
a carbon-fibre-reinforced epoxy resin allows the engine performance and weight to
be superior to that with conventional materials. Goatham (1970) outlined the design
advantages with composite blades, and discussed the problems. The most critical
situation occurs after the ingestion of a bird, which behaves in a similar manner to a
liquid mass on impact with the moving blades. On a small scale, raindrop impacts
can damage the composite and it is clearly important for the failure processes to be
understood.
All exposed structures of aircraft are susceptible to damage during high-speed
flight (>200 m s-1) through rain. In particular, the radome is vulnerable since it is
usually forward-facing. Considerations of strength, stiffness, uniformity, formability

1529
1530 D A Gorham and J E Field

and electromagnetic transparency have lead to the use of glass-fibre laminates as

radomes in high-speed aircraft. However, this material is severely affected by impact,
and again it is important to understand the failure properties, particularly when used
in conjunction with protective coatings. In practice, an aircraft is likely to encounter
a variety of hazards, including ice crystals, cloud droplets, rain drops, hailstones and
birds. The basic damage phenomena from these events are all very similar, and it is
experimentally most convenient to study the case of water impingement.
This paper describes results of high-velocity (- 700 m s-1) water-jet impacts upon
composites of glass fibres or carbon fibres in polyester or epoxy resin matrices. The
basic damage modes are defined and investigated and the influence of component
material properties is described. The results obtained are applicable to many situations
involving impact, such as those outlined above, and also to explosive loading and
solid particle impact of composite materials.

2. Apparatus

The high-velocity water jets used in this study were produced by the technique of Bowden
and Brunton (1961). In this technique, a lead air-gun pellet is fired at a steel chamber
which contains a small quantity of water sealed in by a neoprene disc. The projectile
and neoprene drive forward as a piston and extrude a jet of liquid through the narrow
orifice. All the impacts illustrated in this paper are with jets from a 1.6 mm diameter
orifice. In this case, the water-jet velocity is approximately four times the slug velocity,
Because of jet expansion, the head diameter at the point of impact (10" from the
chamber end) is - 3 mm. A variable velocity gas gun produces jets over a continuous
velocity range of 400-1000m~-~.To reach lower velocities a modification of this
technique has been developed, involving the use of a steel momentum-exchanging
piston (Field et al 1974, Gorham and Field 1974). The range of velocities obtainable
with the 1.6 mm orifice is then extended down to 200 m s-1.
Field et al (1974) and Gorham (1974) have shown that the impact of these water
jets can be an accurate model for the more realistic situation of the impingement of
liquid spheres. For the study of impact on brittle composite materials, large specimens
are necessary and the jet method is experimentally much more convenient than firing
large specimens at suspended drops. Very high velocities can be more easily reached
with the simple jet device, and this technique can simulate the impact of drops that
are too large to freely support.

3. Mechanisms of solid-liquid impact

When the head of the jet reaches the solid surface, the water behaves compressibly
until the propagation of release waves froni the free surface allows it to jet sideways.
Therefore, a short pulse of very high pressure is produced (Bowden and Brunton 1961).
With a 700 m s-1 jet from the 1.6 mm orifice (typical of the impacts illustrated in this
paper), the impact pressure is 1.5 GPa (depending on the properties of the substrate)
N

and lasts for -1 ps.

The impact behaviours of metals, polymers, crystals, glass and ceramics have pre-
viously been studied using the Brunton apparatus (e.g. Bowden and Brunton 1961,
Bowden and Field 1964, Brunton 1966, Field 1966), and the deformation processes
 Failure of composite materials under high-velocity liquid impact 1531

in these materials are well understood. In general, it is convenient to consider the

impact as initiating failure in three ways:
( 1 ) Failure in the impact region due to the pressure of the impinging drop. This
includes plastic flow in metals (leaving a surface depression) and ring cracks and circum-
ferential fractures in brittle materials.
(2) Failure due to the shearing action of high-speed radial flow. This erodes surface
discontinuities near the impact area; smooth surfaces are left relatively unaffected.
(3) Failure caused by the interactions of stress waves. This can cause widespread
damage far from the impact site, but is to some extent controllable by the size and
shape of the impacted body.
Impacts upon non-metallic composites show damage features that significantly
differ from those found with isotropic materials. The next two sections will illustrate
typical impacts onto carbon fibre and glass-fibre-reinforced resins, followed by a more
general analysis of the damage mechanisms which are important to these materials.

4. Carbon fibre laminates

Carbon-fibre-reinforced composite components are commonly manufactured by

laminating pre-impregnated sheets of parallel fibres. The two extreme cases of the
reinforcement geometry possible are: (a) each ply having fibres parallel to all others
(unidirectional) ; and (b alternate layers differing in orientation by 90" (crossplies).
Specimens of both these geometries impacted by 725 m s-1 water jets are illustrated in
figure 1 (plate). The fibres correspond to Type 111 designation, i.e. low modulus and
medium strength, and the matrix is EY558, a brittle epoxy. Post cure was 3 h at 180 "C.
The characteristic features of surface damage on such materials at this velocity
are penetration of at least one fibre layer and comparatively large-scale splitting and
delamination. The site in figure l(a) has a central, almost circular region that is relatively
undamaged (marked l ) , surrounded by a ring of failure. This annulus consists of surface
resin removal, matrix failure, fibre fracture and some fibre removal, and it is more
extensive in the longitudinal than the transverse direction. The anisotropy of this
impact mark is not unexpected in view of the grossly aeolotropic elastic and strength
properties of a unidirectional carbon-fibre-reinforced composite. As the jet of water
arrives in contact with the surface, the 'Hertzian' ring of tension will cause cracks to
form along the fibre direction, tangentially to the contact area (L in figure 2); very
similar behaviour is found in static Hertzian indentations of composite specimens.
A strip of unbroken fibres is then further deformed until the radial tension increases
to the level at which the fibres will break by transverse cracks (in region T). These cracks
will occur at random positions outside the contact area as the distribution of weaknesses
and stress concentrators fall within the field of tension, and this produces the 'smeared
out' zone of fractures, region 2 in figure l(a). Region 3 in this figure is caused by the
rapid radial flow of water occurring after the compressible behaviour phase. The
fractures and deformation as well as the original surface profile form discontinuities
which are eroded by this radial jetting, removing some of the penetrated plies over
this area, and initiating longitudinal splits and delamination. In experiments with
multiple impacts on a unidirectional plate, the successive jets extend the eroded area;
inwards by fracturing the central area and outwards by the radial jetting. Cross-sections
of these specimens show that the depth of the annular region is greatly increased (typically
1532 D A Gorham and J E Field

Figure 2. Impact of a cylindrical jet on to a unidirectional composite: C , contact area;

L, longitudinal cracking; T, transverse failure region. After impact the contact area
returns to the level of the undisturbed surface, but the longitudinal and transverse failures
remain: see figure l(a).

up to 0.5 mm after 5 impacts) as further longitudinal cracking and material removal

occurs at the contact periphery.
Figure l ( b ) illustrates the effect of the orthogonal orientation of alternate layers
of the laminate. The longitudinal cracks form in the top ply, but, at this velocity, do
not penetrate the second ply which is orientated in the transverse direction. This can
be seen as the light area (P) and is not damaged at this point. The longitudinal strength
of the fibres in this perpendicular ply has therefore restricted the deformation of the
upper layer, and reduced the tensile stresses so that fewer fibres are fractured. In this
case, a strip of unbroken fibres exists, bridging the impact area.
The internal damage visible in the sections of figure 3 (plate) largely consists of de-
lamination, spalling and interfibre fracture. Compression failure on a microscopic
scale occurs under the impact site (see also $ 6.2). In these laminates, internal voids
have been observed to act as nucleation sites for crack formation.

5. Glass fibre laminates

Figure 4(a, plate) is the impacted surface of a 3 mm thick laminate of woven glass
mat in epoxy resin (MY 753). The surface damage consists of resin failure and fibre
exposure around the edge of a central undamaged region. The light ring consists of
this surface failure together with an area of subsurface delamination, debonding and
matrix fragmentation. The surrounding diamond shape is the internal delamination,
which can be seen more clearly in figure 4(b), a rear view of the same specimen. This
feature consists of a circular true spa11 and a larger delamination with characteristic
square symmetry situated on a level slightly nearer the front surface. In general, both
stress waves and the interlaminar failure find their preferred propagation direction to
be along fibre bundles rather than oblique or transverse to them, and this can cause
the characteristic diamond shape. Similar delamination fractures were found in the
solid-impact investigation of Morris and Smith (1971). In a coarser weave composite,
 Failure of composite materials under high-velocity liquid impact 1533

both the delamination (figure 5a, plate) and the spall failure (figure 5(b)) show a pref-
erence to be aligned along the wide bundles of fibres.
Figure 6(a, plate) is a section through a 13 mm thick laminate of glass cloth in
epoxy resin that has been impacted 5 times on the same site. The internal damage
features visible are the frontal delamination (D) and the spall fractures (S). The
mechanism of spalling is exactly analogous to the well-known phenomenon found
in homogeneous materials. However, unlike those occurring in isotropic bodies, the
spall fractures are not curved but are constrained to lie in the low-strength planes
between laminae. The development of multiple spalling is seen in figure 6(a), where
each spall fracture acts partly as a ‘free surface’ for succeeding impacts and thus a
series of fractures appears. The number of spall fractures correlates with the number
of impacts.
Region C in figure 6(a) is under largely compressive stresses during an impact.
In an isotropic material, failure occurs in this area because of the large shear stresses
set up. However, the inhomogeneous structure of composites also leaves them sus-
ceptible to failure on a microscopic scale under the compressive components of the
high-intensity stress pulse. This is shown more clearly in figure 6(b) and is discussed
in $ 6 . 2 .

6. Damage mechanisms in composites

Figures 1 and 3-6 illustrate that a typical impact on a glass or carbon reinforced thermo-
setting resin involves four principal distinguishable regions of damage : surface, central
subsurface failure, delamination and spalling. The mechanisms that cause these failure
zones will now be outlined. It should however be emphasized that the distribution
and intensity of damage in a particular composite is very sensitive to the properties
of that material. Therefore, although the general principles apply to most composites,
the severity of impact damage varies widely.

6.1. Surface efects

The extent of the surface damage of composites is important for two reasons: (a) surface
penetration and exposure of strong, brittle fibres usually leads to a rapid strength reduc-
tion; and (b) surface erosion is often taken as the criterion of the degree of damage,
as, for example, the mass loss rate in erosion tests, or the surface appearance in casual
inspection under service conditions. However, the amount of surface damage to com-
posites can be modified widely, without necessarily changing the extent of the internal
failure. Therefore surface damage can be an unreliable indicator of total composite
performance.
Factors which affect the failure at the surface include irregularities such as steps,
cracks, voids or fibres, and the thickness of the matrix ‘gel coat’. Field (1967) has
shown that steps as small as 0.1 pm can significantly affect the nucleation of surface
failure in liquid impact. Some of these effects can be seen in figure 5(a), a coarse weave
of glass cloth in a brittle polyester resin. The impact was aimed near a point where
the glass fibre weave came near the surface, so that the top half of the impact was on
a thick matrix layer. The surface damage in this region is closely similar to that resulting
from impact upon unreinforced thermosetting resins and consists of a central un-
damaged region surrounded by the highly eroded annular failure. Outside this ring
1534 D A Gorham and J E Field

are short circumferential cracks (c), most of which are associated with voids intersecting
the surface. The lower half of the impact site in figure 5(a) is in a region where fibres
intersect the surface. The major damage modes here are those of debonding and matrix
fragmentation. The debonding extends out to about three times the ring crack radius
from the impact centre, but fibres are broken only at the periphery of the contact area
where the ‘Hertzian’ ring of tension exists. The high-speed radial jetting from the
impact has removed much of the matrix from fibres lying across the jetting direction.
Most surface effects can be eliminated by the application of a smooth, well-bonded
coating to the composite (Gorham and Field, to be published).

6.2. Microscopic aspects: compression failure

The fibres in the type of composites under consideration are 10 pm diameter, and
N

stress wave propagation times across distances of this magnitude are much less than
the 1 ps duration loading pulse of the water jet impact. Therefore, when considering
the behaviour of fibres compressed together, the results of static stress analyses can
be applied. Many authors have described the behaviour of single cylindrical inclusions
in elastic bodies under simple stress systems: for example, Thibodeau and Wood (1938)
and Jaeger and Cook (1969). They indicate that significant stress concentrations, both
positive and negative, can be produced in the matrix. In the case of two interacting
inclusions, the stress concentrations are much higher and rise rapidly as the separation
decreases (Shelley and Yi-Yuan Yu 1966, Hill 1966, Adams and Doner 1967b). Therefore
the presence of reinforcement can be expected to enhance the nucleation of failure in
the matrix, with larger volume fractions leading to higher local stress concentrations.
When composites of fibre-glass in a transparent resin are impacted, microscopic
local failure sites give rise to a ‘milky’ appearance of the region under the jet contact
area. An example of this is presented in figure 6(b), which is a section through a com-
posite of woven glass mat in a tough epoxy resin. The illumination for this photograph
was arranged so that the failure sites scattered light, and therefore produced the bright
region under the impact area. The spall fractures have a similar appearance under this
illumination. The region of subsurface compression consists of matrix failure, fibre
fracture and debonding, but all on a microscopic scale. These effects are expected to
occur also with carbon fibre reinforcements, but the opacity of such composites confines
observation of the damage to the polished surface of sections.

6.3. Delamination and laminar spalling

In most kinds of laminated composite material, failure occurs preferentially along
interlaminar planes, leading to oriented spall fractures and extensive subsurface de-
lamination. This type of failure is often the most extensive one formed and it can lead
to serious degradation of the bending strength of a damaged component. Complex
shapes can often only be fabricated by a lamination technique and interlaminar bonding
is invariably a material weakness. Both voids and resin-rich pockets between laminae
act as stress concentrators, particularly to any shear stress that is applied to the interface.
Also, once a crack is nucleated between two laminae, it will be constrained to remain
in this plane if it is to avoid intersecting high-strength fibre layers. There are several
mechanisms which result in interlaminar failure. They are listed in table 1 and then
briefly discussed.
 Failure of composite materials under high-velocity liquid impact 1535

Table 1. Mechanisms of delamination

~~

Mechanism Stress system causing

delamination
(a) Static (1) Bending Shear
(2) ‘Soft interlayer’ effect Shear
(b) Dynamic (3) Geometry of spherical propagation Tension and shear
(4) Fibre wave propagation Shear
( 5 ) Reflection at internal discontinuities Tension
(6) Reflection at free surface (spalling) Tension

(1) In a conventional three-point bend test, a specimen will fail by tensile fracture,
compressive buckling or shear according to the geometry of the test and the properties
of the material. This behaviour will be reflected in the response to long duration ‘quasi-
static’ dynamic loads, and delamination by the bending shear stress can occur. The
same failure criteria (i.e. effective span-to-depth ratio and interlaininar strength) that
apply to the static case can be used in the dynamic one.
(2) The ‘soft interlayer’ effect refers to the interfacial shear that is set up when a
layer of a soft material is compressed between more rigid surfaces. Gent et a1 (1974)
have analysed the situation of rubbers compressed betweell bonded steel plates and
have shown that the interfacial stress reaches very large values. A similar effect will
occur in composites whenever resin layers are bounded by the high-modulus reinforced
layers. The shear stress then arises from the normal incidence of the high-intensity
compressive stress pulse in regions where the wavefront is significantly non-planar.
(3) An initially compressive pulse with a non-plane wavefront propagating through
an isotropic material develops tension components parallel to and normal to the wave-
vector (figure 7 and see for example Johnson 1968). Assuming that the general behaviour
of such a pulse is unaffected by the presence of structure in the composite, it can be seen
that these stresses will have tension components acting across the laminae. The detailed
behaviour of a spherical wave of compressive stress propagating across an interface
has been considered by many authors: for example, Ewing et a1 (1957) and Cagniard
(1962). There is a complex stress history involving wavefront separation and the forma-

Figure 7. A spherical compression pulse diverging from impact point I has tensile
components H (hoop stress) and T (tensile tail).
1536 D A Gorham and J E Field

tion of head waves. These processes lead to large stresses at the interface, as experi-
mentally verified in dynamic photoelastic studies (for example Burger and Riley 1974).
The importance of wavefront separation as a delamination mechanism has been suggested
by Gorham and Field (1975).
(4) Any mechanical disturbance in a composite causes a wave to travel down the
fibres. As the structure is continuous in this direction there is little loss by scattering.
Also, the pulse travelling in such a constrained way will not be geometrically attenuated
as spherically or circularly expanding pulses are. However, energy is radiated in the form
of shear waves (Wilkinson and Reynolds 1974) by coupling along the interface. The
shear force from this coupling acts so as to debond the fibre from the matrix. In a
bundle or sheet of parallel filaments, the debonding is concentrated at the boundaries
of this region to form delaminations ; these failures often extend preferentially in the
direction of the reinforcement geometry.
The shear stress at an interface for the case of wave propagation down a fibre or
along layering is considered by Chou and Wang (1970) and by Davids (1968). In the
general case of a wave passing along two parallel, dissimilar bars coupled by friction
or adhesion, discontinuities travelling at both wave speeds are found in both media.
The coupling force undergoes rapid reversals at these points. The magnitude of the
shear is governed by the difference in elastic properties of the two materials and therefore
such effects are expected to become more serious with high-modulus fibres. The stress-
concentrating effects of broken fibre ends and large volume fractions are also important.
(5) In a simple laminate system composed of alternate layers of high- and low-
impedance materials, it is clear that reflections of plane stress waves can easily interact
to produce large tensions (Achenbach et a1 1968, Anfinsen 1967). Because of the often
irregular nature of the laminae, this mechanism will only operate on a local scale in
a practical composite, but could be a serious effect with thick, regular laminae.
(6) Spalling in composites is analogous to the well-known process in isotropic
materials. However, spall fractures tend to lie between laminae and one impact may
produce a number of fractures on parallel planes. Glass-fibre woven laminates tend
to display a number of internal interlaminar cracks (e.g. figure 4b) consisting of a true
spall with circular symmetry and a delamination with square symmetry. The formation
of spalls in glass-fibre composites has been recorded by high-speed photography (Gorham
1972, 1974).

6.4. Observation of delamination

The manner in which delamination occurs varies considerably with the type of composite.
In many cases single-impact delaminations are only formed as local failure points
and are difficult to observe. Large-scale evidence is then only visible after multiple
impacts, as succeeding stress pulses extend damage from where it has been initiated.
Delaminations, if they develop, can form either side of the impact area or beneath it.
Failure under the impact is probably due to a tension wave, while off-axis fractures
are more likely to be caused by shear. Thus the relative magnitudes of the shear and
transverse-tensile strengths of the composite can be important in determining the de-
lamination behaviour. The diamond-shaped symmetry properties of some delaminations
in woven laminates suggests that fibre-wave propagation is active (case 4, table 1).
Spa11 and delamination fracture surfaces can be revealed by cleaving the impacted
specimen along an interlaminar plane that contains failure (Gorham 1974). Where
delamination has occurred, this cleavage surface is seen to be a complex topography
 Failure of composite materials under high-velocity liquid impact 1537

of failure, along fibre-matrix boundaries and also within the matrix itself. In contrast,
the part of the cleavage surface not affected by the failure is smooth. Therefore, although
the delaminations and spalls form on a macroscopic interlaminar plane, the fracture
is irregular on a microscopic scale, indicating that failure formation is governed by
the local stress conditions. Adams and Doner (1967a,b) show that the local stress
concentration factors in a composite rise as the volume fraction increases and this
effect is more marked with a shear force than with a tension or compression. Therefore, the
shear modes for delamination will be enhanced more with high volume fractions of
fibres. Also, perpendicular crossing fibres lead to larger maximum stress concentrations
than close, parallel fibres, and therefore leave crossply laminates more susceptible to
damage than unidirectional laminates.
A matrix with a high fracture toughness will help to inhibit delamination. The
result of similar impacts on an identical glass reinforcement in a tough epoxy resin and
a brittle polyester reveal that in the latter case the delamination and spall areas are
approximately twice the corresponding value in the epoxy (Gorham 1974). Other
damage modes, such as debonding and matrix failure are also more severe in the case
of the brittle polyester resin.

7. Material variation

Composites can be manufactured by casting, laminating or filament winding, using

fibre in a variety of forms: single filaments, single ‘tows’, preimpregnated sheets and
woven or random mats. This variety of reinforcement geometry and fabrication tech-
nique will affect the nature of the impact damage, and examples are given below.
The difference between the damage from identical impacts onto unidirectional and
crossply carbon fibre laminates has already been noted in figures 1 and 3. The uni-
directional case has a serious spall failure consisting of many interconnecting fractures
and the delamination failures also cross fibre layers. The crossply has a less serious
spall because cracks that penetrate a layer of unidirectional fibres are stopped at the
interface with an orthogonal layer. Although this type of failure is well controlled, the
area of interlaminar failure is enhanced in the case of the crossply. The greater extent
of the delamination can be attributed to the following causes :
(1) Crossed fibres have a greater stress-concentrating effect than parallel ones a
similar distance apart (see also 3 6.4).
(2) In most wave propagation directions, there is an impedance mismatch cor-
responding to the difference in properties of a single ply in perpendicular directions.
Glass fibres can be used in a greater variety of forms. Examples have already been
presented of woven ‘glass cloth’ laminates; the effect of weave size can be seen from
figure 5, which contains the result of similar impacts on to fine, medium and coarse
weaves in an identical polyester resin system (Crystic 625, Scott Bader Ltd). The damage
site on the fine weave (figure 5c) shows a well-defined central undamaged region sur-
rounded by the annulus of fracture, debonding and delamination. The medium weave
has suffered from more extensive break-up and there is less evidence of the impact
contact area. Failure in this case is characterized by obvious separation of fibre bundles,
as well as debonding within the bundles. The coarse weave specimen is damaged
over much the same area that the medium weave is, and shows the same tendency to
separate layers of fibres. This is more apparent in the rear surface view of this site
(figure 5b) where the spall is oriented along two crossing fibre ‘tows’.
1538 D R Gorhanz and J E Field

A comparison between similar impacts on woven and unidirectional glass is presented

in figure 8 (plate). For these two types of composite respectively, figures 8(a) and 8(c)
illustrate front surface damage, and 8(b) and 8(d) failure at the rear of the 3 nim plates.
Matrix composition was identical in each case. The bi-directional strength properties
of the woven cloth completely suppress the longitudinal splits that unidirectional plies
are subject to (particularly at the rear surface), but failure in such a woven laminate
occurs more easily in the surface at the periphery of the jet. In each case in figure 8
the resin has been penetrated and fibres exposed, but the irregular nature of the cloth
creates stress concentrations at fibre cross-over points which leads to much more serious
fibre debonding and fracture. However, these surface efiects can be reduced in severity
by a suitable surface coating. The large-scale splitting that occurs in unidirectional
fibre arrangements can be a disadvantage, as compared with weave or crossply, in
situations where damage containment is important.
Random mat is a less successful reinforcement geometry. This type of material
usually has a lower fibre volume fraction than the more regular laminates and the
irregular distribution of fibres leads to large resin-rich regions which can be easily eroded.
Fibres are not broken except a t the occasional cross-over points where the stresses are
highest. If a short fibre speciixeii is impacted, the fibres can be entirely removed by the
process of matrix failure arousd them and material loss is then rapid.

8. Voids

Non-metallic fibrous composites commonly contain a significant proportion of voids,

and a volume fraction of 1 % is copsidered to be a low void content. Voids can appear
in a variety of forms: small sphericnl pockets of gas distributed throughout the material;
irregular shapes, often with sharp corners, where thc resin h a s riot wetted the fibre
structure; or large disc-shaped areas of matcrial discontinuity or adhesion loss lying
between laminse. They affect thc mechanical properties of the composite, including
interlaminar shear strength, compressive strength, fatigue life and moduli of elasticity
(McCrum 1971).
The stress-concentrating eirect of a spherical void is three times, irrespective of its
size (e.g. Timshenko and Goodier 1951). This factor is low compared with the possible
effect of many types of sharp-ended defect, and spherical voids arc found to have only
a comparatively minor effect upon the damage formation. However, defects in the
surface of such a void, or lockecl-in tensile stresses rround it, can enhance the stress
concentration. Irregular vcids give higlisr stress concentrations and are more likely
to affect impact damage. Large planar interlaminar voids behave like free surfaces, and
cause compression pulses to be reflected as tension. Internal fractures analogous to
spall failure are formed. Although modification to the failure due to the presence
of voids may not be visible after a single impact, long cracks are sometimes observed in
association with pre-existing voids iii multiple impact experiments. The first impact
nucleates damage iii the form of microcracks, which are important stress concentrators
during the succeeding impacts.
If a spherical void intersects the surface, interaction with surface waves causes the
formation of significant damage with a single impact. Such a case is illustrated in
figure 5(a), where the high-intensity surface stress pulse forms circumferential cracks,
most of which have nucleated at surface voids. Because of the slight surface discon-
tinuity across the crack, the high-speed radial jetting of water has chipped away material
 Failure of composite materials tinder high-velocity liquid impact 1539

on the ‘downstream’ side. A second impact extends the failure and thus erosion damage
is accelerated by the presence of such voids.
In general, voids lower the impact resistance of non-metallic fibre-reinforced com-
posites. The attenuation of stress pulses is increased by a high void content (McCrum
1971), but the erosion lifetime is considerably reduced (Schmitt 1970). Although the
failure nucleated by voids during a single impact is often on a microscopic scale, it can
have a very significant effect with succeeding impacts.

9. Discussion
In order to have general applicability, the results in a paper of this length are of necessity
qualitative. Real composite materials of the type under consideration have a very
wide variation of mechanical properties, depending critically on the nature of the com-
ponents and their adhesion. The conditions which determine the extent of a particular
damage mode are complex. Great variability can be found between impacts at different
positions on a single composite plate, due to the inherent inhomogeneity of construction
and properties. Macroscopic properties, such as fibre volume fraction, are not necessarily
significant for predicting the effect of impacts, which are sampling the local variation
of properties. Therefore, within a general account of this type, it is not always of benefit
to introduce specific measurements of such properties. The stresses created by a 700 m s-1
water impact are much higher than the strengths of the matrix, the interfaces and
often also of the fibres. Therefore, measurements of these properties, particularly
macroscopic values, are of secondary importance. Some damage to the composite is
inevitable; the extent of this damage is determined by such factors as fibre type or
surface treatment, but the form or the damage is independent. An analysis of damage
modes and mechanisms therefore has a general relevance to many types of composite
material. Further experiments (Gorham 1974) with various jet sizes, angles of incidence
and velocities and with other composite materials not mentioned in this paper have
confirmed the general conclusions. The main characteristics of liquid impact loading
are the high pressure (typically 1.5 GPa at 700 m s-1) applied for a short time ( 1 ps).
N

Therefore, the analysis of damage applies not only to a wide range of liquid impact
situations, but also to the similar effects of small high-velocity solid particles and to
explosive loading.
The question of which of the many possible damage modes are important and
need to be suppressed clearly depends on the conditions under which a component
is being used. Debonding, filament fracture and matrix failure will degrade tensile
strength, and in low-fracture-toughness composites may precipitate catastrophic failure
under service stress. Under the action of a bending moment, the component can suffer
failure on the tensile or compressive sides by these damage modes, but more importantly
is likely to fail if a delamination is situated in a plane of high shear (Morris and Smith
1971). This is of significance on aircraft radomes, for example, where large plates are
under bending stress from the aerodynamic forces distributed across them. The bending
stiffness is also significantly reduced by debonding (Greszczuk 1969). Large-scale
failure, such as complete penetration or splitting is serious, but easily detectable. Minor
internal damage can dramatically alter fatigue properties and is particularly serious
if associated with no detectable surface damage and therefore is likely to escape detection.
Surface penetration can allow strength degradation of the fibres, particularly glass,
due to humid or corrosive environments. Surface damage may alter aerodynamic
properties and thus precipitate further damage.
1540 D A Gorham and J E Field

The design of a composite material for resistance to impact is invariably a com-

promise between conflicting requirements. For example, the use of a transparent resin
matrix with glass fibres allows the internal damage to be detected, but protective coatings,
although minimizing damage, also obscure it. It is also apparent that the high interfacial
strength necessary to inhibit delamination and debonding can lead to undesirable
properties of low fracture toughness and therefore leave the component susceptible
to catastrophic failure under certain conditions. It is therefore apparent that no
generalizations can be made about the material properties that are necessary in all
impact situations.

10. Conclusions

The overall conclusion from this study of non-metallic fibre-reinforced composites is

that these materials are intrinsically very susceptible to damage from short duration
high-velocity impacts. Their microstructure causes them to fail under the compressive
stresses of the impact and also provides a wide distribution of other suitable fracture
initiating weaknesses. Unless the reinforcement is fully three-dimensional, there are
weak directions which are likely to contain large-scale failure in the form of delaminations
or splitting. The individual composite components are brittle and fibre and matrix
microfracture are widespread. Under a 700ms-1 water impact it is not possible to
entirely avoid strength-degrading damage in the materials studied. However, the
work has suggested the material parameters that will minimize the damage to uncoated
composites. These include :
(1) A tough matrix suppresses the damage modes of matrix microfracture, de-
lamination, spalling and surface chipping.
(2) A woven fibre geometry suffers a large amount of fibre fracture at cross-over
points where the stress concentrations are highest. A unidirectional system displays
less fibre failure, but large-scale splitting along weak directions is common, Either
system may have advantages in particular situations, depending on which mechanical
properties it is necessary to retain.
(3) A fine weave generally restricts the damage formation more successfully than a
coarser weave.
(4) Voids nucleate damage, and in particular affect the multiple-impact erosion
resistance.

Acknowledgments

We thank the Science Research Council and the Ministry of Defence (Procurement
Executive) for grants to the laboratory,

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J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., Vol. 9, 1 9 7 6 - 0 A G o r h t r crud J E Field (see pp 1529-41)

Figure 1. 725 m s-l impacts on 3 mm thick carbon-fibre laminates: (a) unidirectional;

( h ) crossply. See text for details o f fabrication and the various regions of damage.

121
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., Vol. 9, 1976-D A Gorlrom wid J E F i d l (sec pp 1529 -41 )

Figure 3. Sections through impact sites of figure I . The impact site is on the upper
surface with the complex region of spalling failure towards the lower surface.
J. Phys. D.: Appl. Phys., Vol. 9, 1976-D A Gorlrcirii wtd J E Field (see pp 152941)

Figure 4. S 2 5 111 \ I tmp.ict o n to Iiiic-\\c'i\c sLi\\cloth laminated in polyester resin:

((1) front surface damagc; ( h ) rcar stirfacc of 3 nim thick plate consisting of 20 layers

I16 S glass cloth (Marglass) in Crystic 625 LV resin (Scott Bader) cured for 3 h at
80 'C.

121*
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., Vol. 9, 1976--0 A Gorhatir and J E FiiM (see pp 1529-41)

Figure 5. 700 m s-1 water impacts on to 3 mm laminates of glasscloth in polyester

resin (resin system as figure 4): (a) impact surface of a coarse weave (ECK24, Turner
Bros); (b) rear surface of ( U ) ; ( c ) impact surface of fine weave(ll6S Marglass); ( d )
impact surface of medium weave (ECK12, Turner Bros).
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., Vol. 9, 1976--0 A Gor./rcrur ioic/J E Fidl(see pp 152941)

Figiirc 6. ( ( 1 ) Scction through V I S 01' live 700 m s 1 impacts on 12 mm thick glass

cloth,epoxy laniinatc, impact site on tipper surface: D, delamination; S, spall fractures;
C , region of compression failure. (1)) Section through single 725 m s-1 impact on 3 mm
plate of glass cloth/cpoxy laminate, inipact site on upper surface. The region immediately
below the impact is compression failure, and the region near the rear surface is spall.
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., Vol. 9, 1976--0 A Godrcrur r m d J E Fidel (see pp 152941)

Figure 8. 8 3 m s 1 water impacts upon 3 mm thick laminates of glnss fibres in epoxy

resin. ((1) and ( h ) front and rear surfaces of glass cloth, ( c ) and ( d )front and rear surfaces
of unidirectional plies in the same resin system.