Blast failure and energy analysis of rubber-modified carbon-fiber vinyl-ester composite laminates

Modifications in vinyl ester resins, a popular matrix resin choice in naval applications through rubber additives, are being experimentally investigated in the current study. Toughening of the composite matrix resin using additives has been a popular choice, where it has been postulated that the inherent modifications to the base resin polymer would enhance the overall response of the composite structure to dynamic loadings. This work intends to understand the effect of such matrix modifications on the shock response of composite panels and the failure mechanism of a composite plate subjected to air shock loading. The study comprises material fabrication, resin and composite material characterization, and analysis of composite panels' response and damage evaluation under a range of shock loadings. A shock tube apparatus is used to generate controlled shock on composite laminates with fixed-fixed boundary conditions. In conjuncture, a high-speed 3-D DIC camera system is used to obtain full-field deformation and strain fields on the specimen's back face (furthest from the loading face). Based on the structural response and energy analysis, the effect of rubber modification is quantified and compared with non-modified resin composites, where the change is shown to improve the structural damping and energy dissipation under below-failure shock loadings and further shows relatively limited crack growth under high-intensity shock loadings.