Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2021) 43:91

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-021-02824-w

TECHNICAL PAPER

A numerical investigation on low velocity impact response

of polymer‑based nanocomposite plates containing multiscale
reinforcements
M. Rasoolpoor1 · R. Ansari1 · M. K. Hassanzadeh‑Aghdam2

Received: 23 November 2020 / Accepted: 12 January 2021 / Published online: 23 January 2021
© The Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering 2021

Abstract
The hybridization of carbon fibers (CFs) with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is a new way of improving the mechanical and
physical performances of composite materials. The aim of this work is to evaluate the low velocity impact response of
polymer-based hybrid composite plates reinforced by the chopped CFs and CNTs using finite element method (FEM). A
nested micromechanical FEM considering interphase region created by the non-bonded van der Waals interactions between
the CNTs and polymer is developed for predicting the mechanical properties of hybrid composites. The predictions of the
proposed numerical model are compared with the results of experiment and other numerical methods. It is demonstrated
that adding a small amount of CNTs into the chopped CF-reinforced polymer composites can increase the contact force and
decrease the center deflection of hybrid composite plates. The influences of volume fractions of CF and CNT, thickness and
elastic modulus of interphase region, diameter and initial velocity of projectile, dimensions and boundary conditions of plate
on the dynamic response of hybrid composite structures are discussed.

Keywords Hybrid composite plate · Carbon nanotube · Low velocity impact · Finite element method · Nested model

1 Introduction Despite the aforementioned applications, the CNTs are

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been the subject of deep
research, since their discovery by Iijima [1], mainly due to
the extraordinary properties, including low density, high
aspect ratio, high strength (up to 150 GPa) and high stiffness
(up to 1 TPa) [2–4]. The excellent physical and mechani-
cal characteristics of CNTs have revealed high potential
for a wide variety of engineering applications, for instance,
semiconductors, nanotransistors, hydrogen storage devices,
fuel cells, molecular sensors and structural materials [5–7].
Technical Editor: João Marciano Laredo dos Reis.
* R. Ansari
r_ansari@guilan.ac.ir
M. K. Hassanzadeh‑Aghdam
Mk.hassanzadeh@gmail.com
1 Ray [21] analyzed the effective elastic properties of poly-
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Guilan,
Rasht, Iran
2 and CNTs. It was shown that the effective elastic proper-
Department of Engineering Science, Faculty of Technology
and Engineering, East of Guilan, University of Guilan,
Rudsar‑Vajargah, Iran
introduced as reinforcing agents in polymer materials and
fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPCs) [8–12]. The
traditional FRPCs are used in aerospace, sports goods and
automotive industries, etc. [13, 14]. But, the addition of sec-
ond nanoscale fillers, such as CNTs, can further improve
the effective properties of such polymer-based composite
materials [15–17].
Polymer-based materials reinforced with traditional
microscale short CFs and CNTs form a hybrid composite
where the characteristic length scales of CFs and CNTs
differ by multiple orders of magnitude. Recently, some
researches have demonstrated that addition of a small
amount of CNTs inside the short CF-reinforced polymer
composites enhances both structural performance like elastic
modulus and strength, as well as the functional performance
like electrical and thermal conductivities of the resulting
hybrid composites [18–20]. For example, Kundalwal and
imide hybrid composites reinforced with aligned short CFs
ties of the hybrid composite along the transverse direction
are enhanced considerably because of the radial growing

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of CNTs on the circumferential surface of the short CFs
[21]. By means of floating catalyst chemical vapor deposi-
tion, Rahmanian et al. [22] uniformly dispersed the CNTs
on the surface of chopped CFs and glass fibers (GFs) to
create multiscale reinforcements. Then, some experimental
tests have been performed to measure the tensile and flex-
ural properties of the hybrid composites. The test results
revealed an evident improvement in the mechanical proper-
ties of the hybrid composites with multiscale reinforcements
as compared to the short fiber-reinforced composites [22].
Growth of CNTs on the fiber surfaces increases Young’s
modulus around 57% and 40% for CF and GF composites,
respectively [22]. In another study, CNTs and short CFs have
been simultaneously incorporated into the epoxy matrix to
manufacture the high-performance hybrid composites [23].
The weight fraction of CNT varied from 0.2 to 0.5% of
composites combined with 1 and 3% of short CF. Based on
the experimental observation, the hybrid composites pre-
sented the significant enhancement in the elastic and stor-
age moduli, strength and impact resistance in comparison
with the CNT-reinforced epoxy and short CF-reinforced
epoxy composites [23]. Also, Haghgoo et al. [24] evalu-
ated the effective electrical conductivity of the chopped CF/
CNT-reinforced polymer hybrid composites. The results
confirmed that the addition of CNTs into the short CF-
reinforced polymer composites can increase the effective
electrical conductivity and electrical percolation threshold
of the resulting hybrid composites [24]. In general, some
issues pertaining to the alignment, dispersion, length, size
and volume fraction of reinforcements, interaction between
the phases and constituent properties must be incorporated
and optimized to obtain the best properties of the hybrid
composites. Due to the wide application of polymer hybrid
composites with short fiber/CNT multiscale reinforcements,
there is a need to understand more about the evaluation of
their mechanical properties.
It has been shown that the composite structures are sus-
ceptible to low velocity impact which could lead to differ-
ent damages, such as matrix cracks, delamination and fiber
breakage [25]. These damages are actual difficult to be
noticed by naked eyes and may cause noteworthy decreases
in the strength and stiffness of the composite systems.
Yao et al. [26] experimentally and numerically examined
the low velocity impact response of fiber metal laminates
consisted of CF-reinforced layers and aluminum (Al) sheets.
It was found that multiple impacts with lesser energy divi-
sion and smaller initial impact energy lead to minor damage
in fiber metal laminates. The impact load, energy absorp-
tion, damage morphologies and the delamination were
associated with the level, sequence and division of impact
energy [26]. He et al. [27] experimentally and numerically
studied the effects of impact-induced failure on the resid-
ual flexural strength of honeycomb core sandwich panels.
13
It was observed that the increase in cell wall thickness or
the reduction in side length of honeycomb core has sub-
stantial influences on the peak load. The residual flexural
strength decreased clearly even through the impact dam-
age was barely evident [27]. He et al. [28] explored the low
velocity impact behavior and post-impact flexural response
of sandwich structures consisted of CF-reinforced polymer
face sheets and Al alloy corrugated cores. It was indicated
that the damage is dependent on the energy and location of
impact [28]. In another work, He et al. [29] experimentally
and numerically examined the low velocity impact perfor-
mance and resultant damage behavior of Al honeycomb
sandwich structures with CF-reinforced polymer face sheets.
The results depicted that the increase in core height pos-
sesses relatively little influence on the initial stiffness and
energy absorption [29]. Up to now, extensive investigations
have been made to evaluate the low velocity impact behav-
iors of FRPC and CNT-reinforced polymer composite struc-
tures [30, 31]. In the light of an increment of the safety of
hybrid composite components under low velocity impacts,
the identification of the effects of microstructural features
on the contact force and deflection time histories is desired.
Because the experimentation of the hybrid composite mate-
rials containing nanoscale fillers is still a developing field,
the most effective way of predicting the mechanical behavior
is predominantly via computational modeling techniques.
In the current study, the authors have attempted to esti-
mate the dynamic behavior of polymer-based hybrid com-
posite plates reinforced by chopped CFs and CNTs by
employing the nested FEM. Special attention is directed
to the exploration of the effects of microstructure features
of the hybrid composite systems. The rest of the paper is
organized as follows. The details of the micromechani-
cal FEM for predicting the mechanical properties of CF/
CNT-reinforced polymer hybrid composites are presented
in Sect. 2. In Sects. 3, framework of the impact analysis
together with the element type is introduced. The numerical
predictions of the contact force and deflection time histories
for the hybrid composite plates are provided in Sect. 4. The
effects of volume fractions of CF and CNT, thickness and
elastic modulus of interphase region, diameter and initial
velocity of projectile, dimensions and boundary conditions
on the plate dynamic response are explored. The present
predictions are compared to the other results available in
the literature to confirm the correctness of the procedure.
Finally, Sect. 5 provides the concluding remarks. The find-
ings of the current research may present a new insight in
understanding the dynamic behavior of hybrid composite
structures under low velocity impacts.
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2021) 43:91 Page 3 of 12 91

2 The micromechanical FEM
Figure 1 displays the various portions with the schematics
of respective microstructure of the hybrid composite plate
for the simulation strategy by the micromechanical FEM.
The interfacial bonding between the CNT and surround-
ing polymer matrix significantly controls the performance
of a polymer material filled with the CNTs. Raman scat-
tering and X-ray diffraction have indicated that there is
no chemical bonding between the CNT and the polymer
matrix [32]. In this situation, only non-bonded electro-
static and van der Waals (vdW) interactions are reflected
between the CNT and polymer matrix [33, 34]. Because of
the fact that vdW interactions contribute more extremely
in three higher orders of magnitude than electrostatic
energy, the electrostatic interactions are ignored in com-
parison with vdW interactions [35–37]. In the micro-
mechanics approaches, an equivalent solid continuum
interphase is usually taken into account between the CNT
and the polymer matrix characterizing the vdW interac-
tions [34, 36, 38, 39]. Therefore, in the first step shown in
Fig. 1a, b, the CNTs covered by a thin layer of interphase
region are converted into the equivalent nanofibers. In the
second part, nanofibers are randomly dispersed into the
polymer matrix to predict the mechanical properties of
CNT-reinforced nanocomposites illustrated in Fig. 1c by
the FEM. Finally, the homogenized mechanical properties
of chopped CF/CNT-reinforced polymer hybrid compos-
ite consisted of randomly distributed CFs and nanocom-
posite matrix are calculated using the micromechanical
FEM. The CNT and CF are considered to be transversely
isotropic materials. The polymer matrix and interphase
behave as isotropic materials. Table 1 shows the materials
properties, including longitudinal Young’s modulus (EL),
transverse Young’s modulus (ET), shear modulus in lon-
gitudinal direction (GL), longitudinal Poisson’s ratio (vL),
transverse Poisson’s ratio (vT) and density (ρ) of CNT, CF,
polymer matrix and interphase [34, 40]. The thickness of
interphase region is 0.333 nm [34].
A uniaxial tensile test is performed on the representative
volume element (RVE) of the CNT-polymer nanocompos-
ite to calculate its mechanical properties. Figure 2 displays
a schematic view for boundary and loading conditions in
determining the nanocomposite mechanical properties. It is
supposed that the effective properties of the CNT-polymer
nanocomposite are similar to the properties of the RVE. As
can be seen in Fig. 2, two sides of the RVE including left

Fig. 1  Schematic representation of the micromechanical FEM for the interphase, b effective nanofiber, c CNT-polymer nanocompos-
predicting the effective mechanical properties of chopped CF/CNT- ites, d chopped CF/CNT-polymer hybrid composite and e hybrid
reinforced polymer-based hybrid composites: a CNT surrounded by composite plates

Table 1  Material properties Material EL (GPa) ET (GPa) vL vT GL (GPa) ρ (Kg/m3)

of CNT, CF, polyimide and
interphase [34, 40] CF 294 18.5 0.27 0.3 25 1760
CNT 1382.5 645 0.272 0.2 1120 1300
Polyimide 4.2 4.2 0.4 0.4 1.5 1310
Interphase 19.29 19.29 0.34 0.34 7.2 1305

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Fig. 2  Boundary conditions
and loading on the RVE of
CNT-polymer nanocomposites
to obtain the mechanical proper-
ties
and lower sides are constrained in the x and y , respectively,
and the strain (𝜀A) of 0.01 is imposed to the upper side. By
calculating the boundary reaction force and determining the
stress value (𝜎A), the effective elastic modulus of the nano-
composite RVE ( ENC ) is achieved by the Hooke’s law as
𝜎A
ENC = . (1)
𝜀A
The Poisson’s ratio of the nanocomposite RVE ( vNC ) is
calculated as
𝜀T
vNC = − . (2)
𝜀A
In the meshing of nanocomposite RVE, 8-node biquad-
ratic plane stress quadrilateral elements are used. A simi-
lar procedure is again performed for the CF/CNT-polymer
composite RVE (Fig. 1c) to obtain the mechanical properties
of hybrid composite. It is worth mentioning that for each
reinforcement type, the results are determined using average
values of five analyses with different random microstructures
so as to decrease the effect of chance as a result of random
dispersion on the final predictions. The density of hybrid
composite is achieved by the rule of mixture method.
3 Impact analysis using FEM
The selected structure in this research is CF/CNT-polyimide
hybrid composite plate with the length a, width b and thick-
ness h under a spherical projectile. The finite element analy-
sis in the current research has been carried out by means of
commercial software ABAQUS package. More information
about the impact analysis can be found in the available litera-
ture [41–43]. For the meshing of the hybrid composite plate,
C3D8R element has been used which is an 8-node linear
brick, reduced integration element with hourglass control.
13
Too, C3D4 element that is a 4-node linear tetrahedron ele-
ment has been utilized to mesh the projectile.
4 Results and discussion
The predictions of the micromechanical FEM are compared
with the available test results of the elastic modulus of
CNT-reinforced polypropylene nanocomposites [44]. López
Manchado et al. [44] evaluated the elastic modulus of CNT-
polypropylene nanocomposites with uniform dispersion of
single-walled CNTs. So, the FEM predictions are compared
with experimental results measured by López Manchado
et al. [44]. Figure 3 shows this comparison. The normalized
elastic modulus of polypropylene nanocomposites versus
the CNT concentration in the range of 0–0.5 vol% is plot-
ted. Note that the nanocomposite elastic modulus is normal-
ized with respect to matrix elastic modulus. The constituent
properties of the nanocomposite are tabulated in Table 2
[45]. The aspect ratio (length/diameter) of CNTs has been
considered to be equal to 100 [44, 45]. It can be perceived
that good agreement exists between two sets of results. The
1.6
Experiment [44]
Normalized elastic modulus
FEM
1.48
1.36
1.24
1.12
1
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
CNT volume fraction (%)
Fig. 3  Comparison between the FEM predictions and experimental
data [44] of elastic modulus of polypropylene nanocomposites
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2021) 43:91 Page 5 of 12 91

Table 2  Material properties of single-walled CNT and polypropylene 2.8

[45] Experiment [23]

2.6
Material Young’s modulus Poisson’s ratio FEM

Elastic modulus (GPa)

(GPa)
2.4
Single-wall CNT 2520 0.25
polypropylene 0.855 0.43 2.2

reinforcing influence of CNT is very significant, and as the 1.8

CNT volume fraction increases, the nanocomposite Young’s
modulus enhances quickly.
Now, the predicted results of the FEM are compared with
the experimental outcomes of elastic modulus of chopped
CF/CNT-reinforced epoxy hybrid composites [23]. This
comparison is made to further verify the validity of the pre-
sent FEM. The material properties of the reinforcements and
epoxy matrix are given in Table 3 [23, 46]. The aspect ratios
of CF and CNT are 100 and 50, respectively [23]. The com-
parison between the results of the present FEM and experi-
ment [23] is shown in Fig. 4. According to Ref. [23], the
FEM is used to calculate the elastic modulus of the hybrid
composites with 1 wt.% chopped CF and different contents
of CNTs. Up to 0.3 wt.% CNT, good correlation between the
numerical and experimental results exists which confirms
the effectiveness and rationality of the proposed numeri-
cal model. It is illustrated that higher content of CNT can
decrease the Young’s modulus of hybrid composites owing
to the CNT agglomeration. But, agglomeration state is not
considered in the present FEM. Therefore, the predicted
graph increases continuously with the rise of CNT content.
Because no data exist for the low velocity impact of
hybrid composite plates in the literature consequently, the
FEM results are compared with those of other available solu-
tions for the mechanical behavior on a clamped square iso-
tropic plate under low velocity impact [42]. It may confirm
the accuracy of the present numerical model. A plate made
of Al material ( E = 69 GPa, v = 0.33, 𝜌=2700 kg/m3) with
length a = b = 500 mm and thickness h = 10 mm has been
chosen [42]. The Al plate is under a spherical steel projectile
( Ei = 207 GPa, vi = 0.3, 𝜌i=7960 kg/m3) with a diameter
of 40 mm. The velocity of projectile is 0.3 m/s [42]. Note
that the impact exactly occurs in the center of the Al plate.
The time histories of plate/projectile contact force and plate
center deflection are illustrated in Fig. 5a, b, respectively.
Good agreement is found between two sets of results for
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
CNT weight fraction (%)
Fig. 4  Comparison between the FEM predictions and experimental
data [23] of elastic modulus of chopped CF/CNT-reinforced epoxy
hybrid composites
both contact force and center deflection. A reason of the
difference between the results might be primarily because
of employing different plate theories.
After addressing the validity of the present FEM, some
parametric studies are accomplished to display the influences
of different factors on the dynamic response of chopped CF/
CNT-reinforced polyimide hybrid composite plates under
low velocity impact. As mentioned earlier, the constituent
properties of the hybrid composite are given in Table 1.
Also, the aspect ratios of CF and CNT are selected to be 10
and 100, respectively The projectile is a steel sphere ( Ei =
207 GPa, vi = 0.3, 𝜌i=7960 kg/m3) with a radius of = 40 mm.
The initial velocity of projectile is chosen to be equal to
1 m/s. The square plate in-plane dimensions are a = b =
500 mm, and its thickness is considered to be 10 mm. It is
assumed that the hybrid composite plate to be under fully
clamped boundary condition and the impact occurs exactly
in its center.
The effects of volume fraction (VF) of reinforcements,
including chopped CF and CNT on the dynamic behavior
of hybrid composite plate under low velocity impact, are
shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Figure 6a–c shows the contact force
as a function of time for three different volume fractions of
CNT, including 1, 2 and 3%, respectively. Also, the FEM
predictions are provided for four different volume fractions
of CF, including 0, 5, 10 and 15%. Figure 7 indicates the
time history of center deflection of hybrid composite plate.
It can be noticed from Figs. 6 and 7 that a greater value of
reinforcement volume fraction causes a larger peak contact

Table 3  Material properties Material EL (GPa) ET (GPa) vL vT GL (GPa) ρ (Kg/m3)

of multi-walled CNT, CF and
epoxy [23, 46] CF 294 18.5 0.27 0.3 25 1800
CNT 800 50 0.162 0.47 442 1700
Epoxy 1.75 1.75 0.35 0.35 0.648 1100

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Fig. 5  Comparison of the a contact force and b center deflection of Al plate

Fig. 6  Effect of volume fractions of reinforcements on the time history of contact force for a 1 vol.% CNT, b 2 vol.% CNT and c 3 vol.% CNT

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Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2021) 43:91
Fig. 7  Effect of volume fractions of reinforcements on the time history of hybrid composite plate center deflection for a 1 vol.% CNT, b 2 vol.%
CNT and c 3 vol.% CNT
force, lower center deflection and shorter contact time. It
is due to the increase in hybrid composite stiffness by the
increase in volume fractions of chopped CF or CNT.
Now, to investigate the effect of interphase size on the
low velocity impact behavior of hybrid composite plate con-
taining multiscale reinforcements, three cases are examined
such that in each case the thickness of interphase layer ( t )
is different. Figure 8a, b shows the contact force and center
deflection time histories of the composite plate, respectively.
The results are provided as the interphase thickness is equal
to 0.333, 0.666 and 0.999 nm. It is evident from Fig. 8a that
the peak contact force increases as the interphase thickness
increases. Also, the numerical results of Fig. 8b show that
the center deflection of a hybrid composite plate has been
reduced by increasing the interphase thickness. This trend
can be expected, since the increase in interphase thickness
leads to an enhancement in the elastic modulus of the hybrid
composite.
Page 7 of 12 91
The contact force and center deflection time histories
of the hybrid composite structure have been presented in
Fig. 9a, b, respectively, for different values of interphase
elastic modulus ( Ei ). The change of interphase material
properties insignificant effects on the mechanical behav-
ior of the hybrid composite structures under low velocity
impacts.
The effect of thickness of the hybrid composite plate (h )
on the contact force–time and center deflection time curves
is depicted in Fig. 10a, b, respectively. The impact analysis
of the hybrid composite structures exposes that the plate
thickness has considerable effects on the low velocity impact
response. It can be observed from Fig. 10a that increasing
plate thickness leads to a significant increase in contact force
between the target plate and projectile. The impact duration
and center deflection of the hybrid composite plates remark-
ably decrease by increasing the plate thickness as shown in
Fig. 10b.
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Fig. 8  Effect of interphase thickness on the a contact force and b center deflection of the hybrid composite plate

Fig. 9  Effect of interphase elastic modulus on the a contact force and b center deflection of the hybrid composite plate

The square plate with three different dimensions (a × b= 1

kp = mV 2 . (3)
0.5 × 0.5, 0.6 × 0.6 and 0.7 × 0.7 m) is analyzed mainly 2
to explore the role of plate dimensions on the low veloc-
where m and V are the mass and velocity of impactor.
ity impact behavior. . Figure 11a, b illustrates the contact
The results show that the projectile velocity is a very effec-
force–time and center deflection time curves, respectively,
tive parameter in the dynamic response of hybrid composite
for three different dimensions of hybrid composite plates.
structures. As the velocity of projectile increases, both con-
Now, the effects of projectile velocity on the dynamic
tact force and center deflection increase.
behavior of chopped CF/CNT-reinforced polyimide hybrid
Another case of study is related to examine the role of
composite plates are investigated. Figure 12a, b shows the
projectile radius in the contact force and center deflec-
time histories of contact force and center deflection of the
tion time histories of hybrid composite plates as revealed
hybrid composite plates for three different initial velocities
in Fig. 13a, b, respectively. Dynamic response of hybrid
of projectile, including 0.5, 1 and 1.5 m/s. The impact ener-
composite structures is significantly affected by the change
gies corresponding to these velocities are 0.267, 1.067 and
of projectile radius. It is clear that both the contact force
2.4 j, respectively. The kinematic energy of the impactor can
and plate center deflection increase with the increase in
be obtained by

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Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2021) 43:91 Page 9 of 12 91

Fig. 10  Effect of plate thickness on the a contact force and b center deflection of the hybrid composite plate

Fig. 11  Effect of plate dimension on the a contact force and b center deflection of the hybrid composite plate

projectile radius. Too, an increase in the projectile radius
yields in extending the impact duration.
A sensitivity study is conducted to probe the influence of
boundary conditions on the low velocity impact behavior of
hybrid composite plates. Figure 14a, b exhibits the contact
force and center deflection time histories of the structure,
respectively. The predictions of the numerical model are
presented for two boundary conditions, including simply
(SSSS) and clamped (CCCC) configurations.
The mesh size can affect the mechanical behaviors of
the composite structures. Thus, the effects of mesh size of
hybrid composite RVE and plate impact model are inves-
tigated. Table 4 shows the effect of number of composite
RVE elements on the first peak contact force and maximum
center deflection of the hybrid composite plate. Also, Table 5
indicates the effect of number of elements of the low velocity
impact model on the first peak contact force and maximum
center deflection of the hybrid composite plate. It is found
that after a peculiar number of elements, further decrease in
mesh size insignificantly affects the impact response of hybrid
composite plates. Generally, the size of elements in all calcula-
tions is selected small enough such that further reduction in the
element size does not affect the structural responses.
5 Conclusions
The dynamic response of chopped CF/CNT-reinforced
polymer hybrid composite plates was investigated by the
finite element approach. First, the mechanical properties

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Fig. 12  Effect of projectile velocity on the a contact force and b center deflection of the hybrid composite plate

Fig. 13  Effect of projectile radius on the a contact force and b center deflection of the hybrid composite plate

of the hybrid composites were obtained using multi-step
FEM. Then, the mechanical behavior of the hybrid com-
posite structures under low velocity impacts was studied.
We can draw the following conclusions:
• Good match was obtained between the numerical pre-
dictions and excremental data for mechanical properties
of the hybrid composites. Also, the accuracy of numeri-
cal approach for the low velocity impact response was
verified.
• Adding CNTs into the chopped CF-reinforced compos-
ites causes an increase in the peak contact force and a
reduction in both plate center deflection and impact
duration.
• With increase in the volume fraction of both rein-
forcements (CNT or CF), the contact force increases
and both plate center deflection and impact duration
decrease.
• Increase in interphase thickness causes an increase in
the contact force and a reduction in plate center deflec-
tion.
• Both contact force and center deflection of hybrid com-
posite structures increase by increasing the impactor
radius and initial velocity.
• Increase in the hybrid composite plate thickness can
lead to the increase in peak contact force, and the
reduction in both center deflection and contact time.

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Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2021) 43:91 Page 11 of 12 91

Fig. 14  Effect of boundary conditions on the a contact force and b center deflection of the hybrid composite plate

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