Shock loading and drop weight impact response of glass reinforced polymer composites

Response of E-glass reinforced vinyl ester and urethane panels of varying structures subjected to shock loading and drop weight impact loading have been studied. Shock waves are created using a shock tube with a testing range of 3.08–7.53 MPa peak incident pressure. The materials performance under shock loading was evaluated by post-mortem visual damage assessment, residual compressive strength, and permanent deformation mapping of the panels. Drop weight impact performance was measured by energy absorbed by the samples, depth of penetration, and extent of internal damage. Glass preforms having total areal weights 144 and 216oz/yd2216oz/yd2 (4.88 and 7.32kg/m27.32kg/m2) were infused with either one of three separate types of vinyl ester and one urethane resin. The results show that urethane panels having total glass preform areal weight of 216oz/yd2216oz/yd2(7.32kg/m2)(7.32kg/m2) performed better than similar vinyl ester resin panels. It was also found that of two materials with identical vinyl ester resins having total preform areal weight of 144oz/yd2144oz/yd2(4.88kg/m2)(4.88kg/m2), the one with a finer glass structure consistently performed better in all evaluation criteria for shock wave and drop weight impact testing.