Behaviour of basalt/epoxy laminated structures under dynamic conditions

Basalt fibre reinforced epoxy laminates were obtained by overlapping plain woven fabrics by resin infusion. Rectangular specimens cut from the panels were impacted at penetration and at increasing energy values, to investigate the damage onset and propagation. Two non-destructive techniques, namely Ultrasound testing (UT) and Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometry (ESPI), were adopted to investigate the internal damage. It was difficult to obtain information by using the most common UT method, since the high amount of signal absorbed. The ESPI technique proved to be, on the contrary, very useful in providing information about the presence, the shape and the extent of the delaminatio.