Assessment of the statistical distribution of flexural strength of woven-fabric laminates with impact-induced damage

This paper deals with several statistical distribution functions in order to analyze the strength data of composite laminates with impact-induced damage under low temperature. A series of impact tests were performed on the woven-fabric carbon/epoxy laminates under temperatures of 293 K, 263 K and 233 K. Then, three-point flexural tests were carried out so as to generate post-impact strength at the aforementioned temperatures. Two-parameter Weibull, three-parameter Weibull and normal distributions were used to fit the residual strength data of the woven-fabric composite laminates. The two-parameter Weibull distribution most accurately described the experimentally measured strength data for all of the cases considered. Furthermore, the variation of residual strength is simultaneously affected by the impact energy and the temperature.