Analysis of the Impact Dynamics of Shape Memory Alloy Hybrid Composites for Advanced Applications

In this work, the behaviour of thermoplastic composites and Shape Memory Alloy Hybrid Composites (SMAHCs) for aeronautical applications is analysed and compared by means of findings from numerical analyses and experimental tests. At first, experimental tests are performed by using a drop tower facility on both carbon fibre reinforced plastic samples and Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) samples hybridized with shape memory alloy materials. The materials properties and the different lower velocity impacts behaviours are simulated and validated by means of numerical models discretized in LS-Dyna explicit solver. For both configurations, the deformation mechanism for low intensity impacts, the absorbed energy, and the effect of rebounding upon the velocity change, and hence the amount of force, are investigated. Then, a configuration is prepared to withstand higher-energy impacts. Finally, the numerical analysis is extended for an innovative layup adapted on an aeronautical structure, which is subjected to the bird-strike phenomenon at 180 m/s and with an impacting mass of 1.8 kg according to the airworthiness requirements. In this study, SMAHCs are used to improve the composite impact response and energy absorption thanks to the superelastic effect.