Experimental Investigation on the Water Impact Behavior of Composite Structures

Within the context of the SMAES European research project funded under the seventh framework programme, an experimental test campaign consisting on drop tests on water was carried out on semi-cylindrical composite structures and it is presented in this work. The main objectives of such test campaign were to improve the knowledge about the water impact behavior of composite structures and to build an experimental database to support the validation of reliable simulation tools to be used during the design and certification process of aircrafts.