Impact damage prediction of Assembly Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Polymer (AFRTP) structures

Assembly Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Polymer (AFRTP) is a hybrid material manufactured by injection overmolding of short/long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin on the back of continuous fiber-reinforced laminate preformed by thermal stamping to achieve both high mechanical properties and complex geometries. This new technique has attracted large attention from industry recently. The difficulty in applying AFRTP is the progressive damage prediction of heterogeneous interface because the difference in mechanical properties result from materials and process may lead to the interface separation when subjected to bending or tension loads that reduce the bending resistance capability of AFRTP plates. In this paper, the interfacial cohesive parameters of AFRTP structure are identified based on the published experimental data. Additionally, the low-speed impact under three-point bending loads is simulated and the interface stress distribution and failure modes reveal the damage mechanisms of AFRTP interface under shear stress.