Role of interfacial fracture energy and laminate architecture on impact performance of aluminum laminates

The impact behavior of aluminum/epoxy laminates was studied by changing the number of layers and the interface strength. It should be noted that although the overall thickness did not changed, the individual layers decreased in thickness when the number of layers increased. The results indicate that the impact resistance of the laminate increases with the number of layers, while the interface strength has a less pronounced influence (50%) on the impact resistance of the laminate. It is also deducted that if the ratio of layer thickness to plastic zone size is smaller than or equal to 1, the impact behavior of the laminates is sensitive to the interface strength.