This paper experimentally investigates the impact response of composite laminates made with conventional and bio-based epoxy resin. Drop tower impact tests were conducted at varying energy levels, including repeated low-energy impacts, to evaluate perforation resistance. The laminates' residual strength and damage tolerance were assessed using the Damage Index (DI) and by analysing the resonance frequency variations through the Impulse Excitation Technique (IET). The study demonstrates a strong correlation between the DI and the resonance frequencies of the specimens, suggesting that IET can effectively track damage progression in composite laminates. Bio-based resin laminates exhibited higher energy absorption at perforation and lower damage progression during repeated impacts due to the higher ductility of the resin. This method of using resonance frequencies to assess impact damage progression directly in composite laminates throughout the IET technique has not been previously reported in the literature.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym17020141 | DOI Listing |
Polymers (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
Smart textiles provide a significant technological advancement, but their development must balance traditional textile properties with electronic features. To address this challenge, this study introduces a flexible, electrically conductive composite material that can be fabricated using a continuous bi-component extrusion process, making it ideal for sensor electrodes. The primary aim was to create a composite for the filament's core, combining multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), polypropylene (PP), and thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), optimised for conductivity and flexibility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolymers (Basel)
January 2025
School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Due to the complex and uncertain physics of lightning strike on carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates, conventional numerical simulation methods for assessing the residual strength of lightning-damaged CFRP laminates are highly time-consuming and far from pretty. To overcome these challenges, this study proposes a new prediction method for the residual strength of CFRP laminates based on machine learning. A diverse dataset is acquired and augmented from photographs of lightning strike damage areas, C-scan images, mechanical performance data, layup details, and lightning current parameters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolymers (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimri-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea.
This study presents a methodology for characterizing the constituent properties of composite materials by back-calculating from the laminate behavior under fatigue loading. Composite materials consist of fiber reinforcements and a polymer matrix, with the fatigue performance of the laminate governed by the interaction between these constituents. Due to the challenges in directly measuring the properties of individual fibers and the polymer matrix, a reverse-engineering approach was employed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolymers (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy.
This paper experimentally investigates the impact response of composite laminates made with conventional and bio-based epoxy resin. Drop tower impact tests were conducted at varying energy levels, including repeated low-energy impacts, to evaluate perforation resistance. The laminates' residual strength and damage tolerance were assessed using the Damage Index (DI) and by analysing the resonance frequency variations through the Impulse Excitation Technique (IET).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSensors (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju 26493, Republic of Korea.
This study presents the fabrication of a sustainable flexible humidity sensor utilizing chitosan derived from mealworm biomass as the primary sensing material. The chitosan-based humidity sensor was fabricated by casting chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films with interdigitated copper electrodes, forming a laminate composite suitable for real-time, resistive-type humidity detection. Comprehensive characterization of the chitosan film was performed using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, and tensile testing, which confirmed its chemical structure, wettability, and mechanical stability.
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