Improving the impact resistance of basalt fiber-reinforced polymer composites via a biomimetic nacre structure
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Accepted version
Embargoed until: 2025-12-20
Embargoed until: 2025-12-20
Volume
53
DOI
10.1016/j.coco.2024.102233
Journal
Composites Communications
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This work proposes a biomimetic composite laminate based on the “brick-and-mortar” layered structures found in nacre to improve the impact resistance of basalt fiber-reinforced polymers (BFRPs). The “brick-and-mortar” layered structure is incorporated into the laminates through a misaligned lay-up. The impact behaviors of these bioinspired composites are experimentally investigated using low-velocity drop-weight testing and ultrasonic C-scans. A meso-macro finite element model is also established to analyze the impact and energy absorption behaviors. The results show that, compared with conventional laminates with aligned architecture, the introduced nacre-like (NL) misaligned architecture significantly improves impact resistance. Specifically, the peak load increases by 10.3 %, the energy absorption increases by 25.8 %, and the damage area is reduced by 9.9 %. The proposed biomimetic nacre structure limits crack propagation and facilitates tortuous energy dissipation paths by mimicking the “brick-and-mortar” layered structures. This bio-inspired design strategy provides an effective solution to enhance the damage tolerance of composite laminates.