Low velocity impact behaviour of polypropylene and epoxy composite laminates reinforced with a basalt woven fabric

Woven basalt fiber composite laminates based on epoxy and polypropylene (PP) resins were dynamically loaded by a falling weight machine, by using a cylindrical impactor with a hemispherical nose. Laminates with the same thickness were investigated to compare their dynamic response. Impact tests were carried out at penetration to obtain the complete load-displacement curve and to measure the penetration energy, and at different energy levels to study the influence of the matrix on the damage start and propagation. A general better behavior of epoxy basalt fibre reinforced plates (BFRP) was noted while, surprisingly, the polypropylene based laminates didn't show any penetration even at high impact energy highlighting the importance of this study.