Scaling of impact on low fibre-volume glass–polyester laminates

A dimensional analysis approach has been used to develop scaling laws for impact on marine composite materials. An experimental study has been carried out to verify these relationships for the transverse impact of a hemispherical ended impactor on fully clamped circular hand laid-up glass–polyester plates at three different scales. Although the model was a simplified one, the tests showed that it scaled the impact responses well for the elastic response. However, some ‘size effects’ were observed, especially for the damaged response, and further work is required to fully explain the mechanisms behind these effects.