Abstract: In order to investigate the influence of 304 stainless steel mesh on the low-velocity impact damage characteristics of glass fiber woven composite materials, the 2 mm thick glass fiber woven composite plates without and with one layer and three layers of 304 stainless steel mesh were impacted by drop-weight tester at 5 J, 20 J, 40 J, and 60 J energies, and also the influence of stainless steel mesh was analyzed on the aspects of load peak, maximum depression displacement, energy absorption, and damage mechanism. The results show that the peak load and the maximum depression displacement increase with the increase of the impact energy before the impact energy reaches the energy threshold of perforation. The addition of a three-layer stainless steel mesh enables the laminate to reach its maximum load at a small depression displacement, and has best impact resistance. The failure mode of the laminated plate is cruciform, the damage degree gradually deepens along the thickness, the damage degree is gradually serious along the thickness direction, and the damage is the most serious at the center point of the back surface. When the impact energy exceeds the energy threshold, the damage in the center area is petaling. The domain damage modes of plate are fiber tensile fracture and matrix fracture, and metal wire tensile fracture.

Key words: projectile, glass fiber reinforced composite, low velocity impact, damage analysis