Delamination on GFRP laminates impacted at room and lower temperatures: Comparison between epoxy and vinylester resins

Low velocity impact tests at three different impact energy values and three different temperatures, were performed on glass fibre composite laminates made by infusion technology. Two different resins, epoxy and vinylester, were considered to impregnate the fibres: the first is mainly of aeronautical interest whereas the second one is mainly applied in Naval field. The specimens were first completely destroyed to obtain the complete load-displacement curve. The latter allowed the evaluation of the increasing impact energies, 5, 10 and 20J, used to investigate about the start and propagation of the damage inside the laminates. The delamination was investigated by the very commonly used Ultra Sound technique and the results obtained on the different materials at different temperatures were compared. A general better behaviour of vinylester resin was noted. © 2016 Author(s).