Residual Strength and Damage Characterization of Unidirectional Glass–Basalt Hybrid/Epoxy CAI Laminates

Residual strength and damage characterization of glass fiber, basalt fiber and its hybrid reinforced in epoxy laminates were studied under compression after impact loading. It involves the exploitation of certain characteristics of basalt fiber, in order to ascertain basalt as a suitable alternative to glass fiber. Basalt fiber, extracted from basalt stone, is economically feasible over conventional fibers such as glass or carbon and has relative advantages, both physically and chemically. Low-velocity impact tests under impact energy of 2.17 J and compression test were conducted on each set of laminates, and along with that, the non-impacted specimens were also compared. The results obtained from compression after impact test revealed that glass laminate possessed the highest resistance to impact damage, and this particular hybrid configuration did not prove superior over plain glass or basalt in both impact and compression tests. Therefore, for compression after impact scenarios, basalt does not serve as a viable alternative for glass fiber, especially in this hybrid configuration.