Development and experimental verification of a modified constitutive model for 3D orthogonal woven composite under bird impact

Three-dimensional (3D) orthogonal woven composites have potential application as a material for aeroengine blades, which are required to withstand the impact of a bird strike. In the current research, quasi-static and dynamic tensile tests were conducted on a 3D orthogonal woven composite in the warp and weft directions. The results indicate that the ultimate strength increased while the failure strain decreased with an increase of the strain rate. The effects of strain rate on the ultimate strength in the warp and weft directions are different. Therefore, a modified constitutive model that accounts for the different effects of the strain rate in different directions was established. The corresponding parameters were obtained from the test results. Bird impact tests and numerical simulations using the developed constitutive model were carried out with 3D orthogonal woven composite panels. These panels resisted the impact of high-speed bird strikes through an overall deformation. As the impact speed increased, the maximum deformation of the target panel in the thickness direction increased and the residual deformation after the impact also increased significantly. The simulation results are in good agreement with the test results, demonstrating the effectiveness of the modified model.