Low-Velocity Impact Response of Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Composite Thin-Walled Structures

Chaoshuai Duan, Yin Wang, Guohua Zhu^*, Xiaotian Zhang, Jiale Wang, Zhen Wang
School of Automobile, Chang’an University, Xi’an, China
* Corresponding Author: Guohua Zhu. Email: email

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2026.081676

Received 06 March 2026; Accepted 27 April 2026; Published online 19 May 2026

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Abstract

Hybrid fiber reinforced plastic (HFRP) composites, especially intra-layer carbon/glass hybrids, offer a promising balance of specific strength, impact resistance, and cost efficiency for thin-walled energy-absorbing structures. This study investigates the low-velocity impact response and energy absorption of intra-layer carbon/glass hybrid hat-shaped beams. Tensile and impact tests evaluated the effects of hybrid ratio and fiber orientation. A multiscale damage model based on micromechanical damage and failure criteria was established via Abaqus/VUMAT, integrating stress amplification factors to bridge micro-meso-macro scales. Experimental results show that carbon fibers aligned with the loading direction yield hybrid composites with superior tensile properties to carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). Under impact loading, the hybrid beams possess energy absorption values intermediate between those of single fiber reinforced composite beams, among which the B-[C0/G90]₆ hybrid beam attains the maximum cost-effectiveness, exceeding the pure CFRP beam by 27%. The established multi-scale model accurately predicts laminate tensile and hat-shaped beam impact responses, with all relative errors within 10%. Based on the validated model, orthogonal discrete optimization was performed using mesoscopic carbon fiber bundle fraction and macroscopic ply angle as design variables. Results indicate ply angle most significantly influences cost-effectiveness, leading to a 28.74% improvement post-optimization. This work provides an integrated multiscale modeling and optimization framework for performance-cost balanced intra-layer hybrid HFRP thin-walled structure design.