Experimental Investigation of Low-Velocity Impact on Glass-Basalt Hybrid Laminates: Effect of Ply Sequence and Energy Levels

Abstract

The growing demand for lightweight and impact-resistant materials for engineering applications now offers new possibilities for innovation. The current work addresses an experimental investigation of the low-velocity impact behaviors of glass-basalt hybrid composite laminates, focusing on the effect of ply sequence and impact energy levels. Five different laminate configurations, pure glass, pure basalt, and three hybrid variants, were fabricated using the hand lay-up process and were subjected to impact testing at three energy levels, 20 J, 40 J, and 80 J. The parameters analyzed included impact force, deformation, energy absorption, and the damage area. It was determined through the results that the stacking sequence influenced both impact force and damage area significantly at low and high energy levels. The basalt laminates exhibited the highest stiffness and impact resistance, while glass laminates showed the best energy absorption characteristics with the lowest level of damage. The hybrid laminates have shown variations in performance with ply arrangement and impact energy. Among the hybrids, the configuration with glass outer layers showed the most balanced and reliable performance across all energy levels. Statistical analysis further confirmed the significance of laminate configuration and energy level on impact damage behavior. These results point out the possibility of using glass-basalt hybrid laminates that would allow engineers to design application-specific, impact-resistant composite structures.