Effect of energy impacts and tensile strength on the performance of soft and hard boron/epoxy composite

This work presents an experimental comparison between soft and hard composite materials, and in this article, we have chosen boron/epoxy material for study. This work contributes to knowledge the effects of impact fatigue loading on the development of external damage (such as crater) and internal damage (such as delamination), and the final strength of failure as a function of the nature of the composite material, whether it is hard or soft. After conducting several tests (under fatigue loading or tensile stress) on boron/epoxy composite plates, and after measurements related to the crater dimensions (diameter and depth), as well as the delaminated area (diagonal of a diamond shape) or the ultimate strength values of failure. According to the results obtained, with regard to the hardness and stiffness of the composite material, it was concluded that the boron epoxy hard composite is more efficient at resisting tensile strength and more stiffness than the soft composite. On the other hand, as for the resistance to repeated impacts fatigue, we observed that the soft composite is more efficient in shock absorption and more efficient in resisting failure compared to the hard.