Abstract
In this study, we considered the effect of surface coating on impact damage reduction in carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) laminate. The CFRP laminate coated on the impact side or the backside by highly viscous epoxy resin was used as the specimen. The thickness of the coating was 1.0mm, or 2.0mm. The projectile was launched from an air gun and impacted upon the specimen. The impact tests using soft body projectile made of silicone rubber carried out. From the C-scan images obtained with a scanning acoustic microscope after the tests, we found that the damage mechanism of the specimens was similar, irrespective of the existence of coating. Compared with the relationship between the impact energy and the delamination area in the CFRP laminate, it was also found out that the coating technique using highly viscous epoxy is effective method improving the impact damage resistance of CFRP laminate.
