Damage resistance and damage tolerance of dispersed CFRP laminates: The bending stiffness effect

The stiffness of a composite plate under low velocity impact loading is usually assessed by the equivalent bending stiffness. However, considering two different laminates with the same value of the equivalent bending stiffness, the bending stiffness coefficients along the major axis can be widely different. In the current communication, the effect of the bending stiffness coefficients along the major axis on the impact and compression after impact responses of laminated composites with the same value of the equivalent bending stiffness is investigated. The results show that the effect of the bending stiffness coefficients is insignificant when designing a laminate with the same equivalent bending stiffness. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.