Fabrication and impact testing of plastics and glare specimens

Abstract

In this report, the impact response of plastic laminate panels and GLARE specimens were being investigated with the help of a low velocity impact tester. The plastic laminate in this report consisted of one acrylic and one polycarbonate sheet each. Two types of adhesives were being used to adhere the two plastics together, namely a polyurethane elastomer and an epoxy. The performances of these two adhesives were being evaluated using experiments done in a standard drop weight tester.

Also, since acrylic is regarded as a brittle material as compared to polycarbonate which is considered a ductile material, experiments were being conducted to determine whether the acrylic impacted side of the laminate has better impact resistance than one which has the polycarbonate as the impacted side.

In addition, GLARE specimens in a 2-1 configuration fabricated with different metal volume fractions were also put to tests in the drop weight tester. These specimens were fabricated with increasing thicker aluminium sheet on the impacted side while keeping the aluminium on the non-impacted side constant. This specific setup would determine the effectiveness of having a thicker aluminium sheet on the top face with regards to impact resistance.

Parameters such as the absorbed energy, maximum contact force, contact duration as well as the maximum deflection were being presented and discussed in this report.