Global sensitivity analysis of low-velocity impact response of bio-inspired helicoidal laminates

The preform architectures and the variability of the constituents of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites materials can affect their mechanical behaviors significantly. This paper describes a systematic analysis of the low-velocity impact response and energy absorption capacity of biomimetic architected CFRP laminates. High-fidelity multiscale Finite Element (FE) models considering constituent material property uncertainties are developed to evaluate the effect of pitch angles on the impact performance of Bouligand architected composite laminates. Experimental results extracted from open literature have been used to validate the low velocity impact response of the CFRPs predicted by the numerical model. Constituent material property uncertainties are identified as parametric variables, and the peak impact load and energy absorption responses of the bio-inspired CFRPs are obtained with the verified numerical models. The main effect sensitivity indices of the parameters are then calculated based on a variance-based global sensitivity analysis model. The presented studies clearly shows that smaller pitch angles and larger fiber longitudinal elastic modulus achieve more desirable impact resistance and better energy-absorption characteristics. This study aim to open up new possibilities for improving low velocity impact performance of CFRP composite laminates by adopting bionic design approach and considering constituent materials effect.