Experimental and Numerical Study of Damage Performance and Sensitivity of Thin-Walled Carbon Fiber Tubes to Low-Energy Transverse Impact

Thin-walled carbon fiber tubes can be used as support structures for satellite antennas but low-energy impacts may produce invisible damage. In this paper, a finite element model (FEM) of thin-walled carbon fiber tube is proposed for predicting low-energy transverse impact damage. Impact damage sensitivity studies have also been carried out. Low-energy transverse impact damage experiments at energies of 2 J, 4 J, 6 J, 8 J and 10 J were performed to validate the FEM. The maximum error of peak load between experimental and FEM is 7.8%. Both experiments and finite element modelling show that the peak load and damage time increase with increasing impact energy, and that the energy absorbed by the tube also increases. The direction of cracking from impact is similar to the direction of the outermost lamination. For the modulus of elasticity and the outermost layup angle, the layup angle has the greatest degree of damage sensitivity, with a dimensionless damage sensitivity parameter of 4.72.