Prediction of low-velocity impact mechanical response and damage in thermoplastic composites considering elastoplastic behavior

By incorporating the plastic deformation and Puck damage criteria law, a three-dimensional elastic-plastic-damage model has been established to predict the behavior of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) composites under low-velocity impacts. The model has been integrated into ABAQUS/Explicit, and off-axis tensile test were conducted to ascertain appropriate parameters for the elastic-plastic model. Additionally, finite element modeling of off-axis tensile were employed to assess the precision of the model parameters and to contrast the variance of accounting for plastic deformation against neglecting it. The effectiveness of the elastic-plastic-damage model, incorporating damage considerations, was confirmed through an analysis of the mechanical response and progressive damage of CFRTP during low-velocity impact tests. Compared to the elastic-damage model that does not consider plastic deformation, the elastic-plastic-damage model, which takes plastic deformation into account, exhibits higher prediction accuracy. Both simulation and experimental results indicate that delamination and matrix cracking are the dominant damage patterns observed in CFRTP at relatively low impact energies (≤16.20 J).