Associate Professor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia

Dr Mohd Yazid Yahya is an Associate Professor at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and got a PhD in Composite Structure from the University of Liverpool. He is the Director of Centre for Composite, being specialist in Composite Structure, pressure vessels, Impact and blast loading and interlaminar fracture toughness.

Speech Title: The Blast Behaviour of Glass and Carbon Fibre Reinforced Composite Laminate

Aims: To Investigate and characterise the blast resistance of a high-performance glass and carbon fibre based on thermosetting and thermoplastic matrices.

Methods: Fracture properties of the matrices laminates are characterised through a series of fracture tests at quasi-static rates of loading. Blast testing was then undertaken on a ballistic pendulum test facility, capable of measuring the impulse imparted during the blast test.

Results: Delamination, localised fibre buckling, fibre fracture and shear failure at the boundary of the clamped plates were identified as the primary failure mechanisms in the laminates, with their severity depending on the panel thickness and the applied impulse. Delamination was very localised along the centre plane of the laminate, a reflection of the very high interlaminar fracture toughness of these composites. The critical impulse for rear surface fibre fracture has been found to increase rapidly with laminate thickness for the range of panels considered here. The impulses associated with the onset of rear-surface fibre fracture and complete failure of the target were similar, suggesting that rear surface fibre fracture is a pre-cursor to complete failure in these laminates.

Conclusions: Glass fibre reinforced thermoplastic system showed that it offers a superior blast resistance to its carbon fibre counterpart.