Experimental investigation of glass/hemp hybrid composite plates under low-velocity impact loading

Today, the use of composite materials has become widespread. Composite parts are subjected to different loading rates under mechanical loads and therefore must have sufficient strength against such various loads. In this paper, the behavior of hybrid composite with layers of glass and kenaf fibers under impact loading is investigated and analyzed. The effect of a number of layers on energy absorption, initial peak force as well as damage area was discussed. In the following, the results of experimental tests are compared with the numerical method by ABAQUS/EXPLCIT software, and the results show that the two methods are in good agreement and close to each other. The results showed that increasing the number of layers from 5 to 13 layers increases the initial strength and peak force by 85%. Also, by studying the specific energy absorption (SEA), it was found that increasing the number of layers at the optimal point increases the SEA so that increasing the number of layers from 5 to 9 layers causes a decrease of 3% and then increasing the number of layers up to 13 layers Increases SEA by 26%. It was observed that the energy absorption improved by 51% with the proper arrangement of layers of glass fibers and kenaf. At the end of the study, the failure mode of composites showed that the main mechanism of energy absorption in the back surface of composite plates is the debonding of layers with matrix fracture and fiber breakage.