A plate containing a central rectangular hole made of PMMA resin and reinforced with graphene particles: low-velocity impact analysis

Purpose

Due to the important and extensive use of graphene in the engineering structures, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the low-velocity impact (LVI) response of a graphene-reinforced plate with a rectangular central hole.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, Halpin-Tsai theory is used to model the mechanical properties of the plate made of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin and graphene particles. First, the plate displacement field is presented, and then the strains and stresses are obtained. The motion equations are extracted using energy equations, Ritz method and generalized Lagrange equations. The verification of theoretical formulation shall be carried out using the ABAQUS finite element software suite.

Findings

The effects of graphene volume fraction, approaching the impact point to the corner of the rectangular plate, and different boundary conditions of the plate are studied for LVI of impactor with spherical tip on the rectangular central hole reinforced by graphene. Important responses of the impact, such as the contact force between the impactor and the plate as well as the displacement of the plate at the impact place, are investigated and analyzed in this research.

Originality/value

Considering the wide application of graphene in the engineering structures, the simulation of the LVI on the graphene-reinforced plate made of PMMA resin with a rectangular central hole is carried out in this paper using numerical and theoretical modeling.