Determination of flexural properties of hybrid composite using Cowper-Symonds rate-dependent material model

This study addressed to determine the flexural properties of hybrid composite laminates (HCAFRE) under the strain rate sensitivity. The hybrid composite laminate was formed as consecutive stacking of a sequence of plain woven carbon fiber reinforced epoxy (CFRE) and a plain-woven aramid fiber reinforced epoxy (AFRE) laminates. The flexural tests were carried out at four different strain rates (0.01, 0.11, 0.55, 1.1 s−1) to determine the strain rate sensitivity of the HCAFRE. Moreover, the strain rate sensitivity of CFRE and AFRE was also determined individually. The effect of different fiber orientations (0°, 45°, and 90°) on the flexural properties of the composite laminates were also investigated at the scope of this study. In numerical analysis, composite laminates (CFRE, AFRE, and HCAFRE) were constituted in LS-DYNA finite element program using the Cowper-Symonds material model (MAT 112) which includes strain rate dependency. Consequently, it was seen that the experimental and numerical results were indicated a similar tendency to each other. Therefore, it was understood that the Cowper-Symonds material model is suited for the flexural behavior model of composite laminates under different strain rates.