DefinePK

Abstract

The concept of low weight of material for application of impact resistance has turned the research towards composite because it has high strength to thickness and weight ratio when comparing other materials. However the damage is the drastic problem that a composite material faces. Possibility of reducing the impact damage of a composite material will overcome by embedding Smart material along with the composite. In this paper, improvement of impact resistance character of composite laminate by embedding Shape memory Nitinol (NiTi) wire was investigated. Where bi-directionally pre-stressed shape memory alloy (SMA) was used to smart component integrated into the composite structure made of SiC and Kevlar and experimentation was carried out under low velocity impact. Result of the experiment shows that apparent advancement in impact resisting capability and healing effect are appeared on the composite structure after impregnating SMA then the conventional stand alone composite. This is because of the martensitic transformation SMA to it s the initial position and the super-elastic property SMA prevents the striking force from of the composite. The super elastic behavior of Nitinol wire dissipates the shock load uniformly throughout its structure hence, SMA can be an appropriate damper for the structural modification of the composite.