Low-velocity impact behavior of weft-knitted spacer fabrics reinforced composites based on energy absorption

Abstract

Spacer fabrics are prefered to other types of textile fabrics in energy absorption applications due to existence of pile yarns. The particular geometry of spacer fabrics induce to increase resisting out of plane forces such as impact along their thickness. In order to investigate the low-velocity impact behaviour of composites reinforced with spacer fabric, weft-knitted spacer fabrics with different types of pile orientation and pile length were produced using E-glass yarns. Using produced fabrics and epoxy resin, composites samples were provided by hand lay-up method. Low-velocity impact test was carried out on the prepared samples based on a drop-weight method using spherical steel projectile. The indentation at maximum force was extracted as - comparative criteria used to calculate absorbed energy.The results show that the energy absorption of composites increases by increasing the pile density and pile length.