Impact behavior of sandwich composite plates

The main purpose of this thesis is to examine low-velocity impact behavior of sandwich composite materials with PVC, PET foam cores and E-glass/epoxy skin experimentally. Vacuum assisted resin infusion method was used for manufacturing of sandwich composite plates to be used in low-velocity impact tests. Afterwards, the samples with dimensions of cut from the plates 100 mm x 100 mm were subjected to low-velocity impact test by using a test fixture. For the samples tested, the variation of the impact parameters such as force, displacement, absorbed energy, time and velocity were recorded. The mentioned parameters are compared for different foams and thicknesses. In addition, the variation of some parameters such as absorbed energy, maximum force, maximum deflection and contact time are presented in the radar graphic form. The radar graphs are provided for both different foams and varied face-sheet thicknesses.