The impact of structural composite materials. Part 1: ballistic impact

Composite materials are increasingly being used in the design of structures that will be subjected to high-velocity impact during their lifetime. In this review we will look at the recent advances in our understanding of how rigid composite materials behave under high-velocity impact. In particular, this review will focus on rigid structural composites such as carbon fibre reinforced plastic and glass fibre reinforced plastic laminates and what we have learned with regards to how they respond under ballistic-loading conditions. We will focus on a velocity regime that includes impacts from explosively-driven fragments, ice particles and bullets. The hypervelocity-impact response and how these materials behave under one-dimensional shock loading will be studied in an accompanying review (Part II).