Research of Dependence of the Damage Area on Tow Width on Filament-Wound Composite Tubes

This paper explores the effect of tow width on the damage area produced by high velocity impacts on glass fiber/epoxy composite structures made by filament winding. The subject of the research were a four-layered composite tubes that have been designed using matrix method. The method was used to select mosaic patterns with different rest of the winding stroke and number of interlaces, which are places of stress concentration and which affect the strength of the composite. The narrowest (5 mm) and the widest (17 mm) tow width available was chosen. Composite filament-wound structures were subjected to a high velocity impact by a 2.0 g spherical hardened steel impactor propelled to a velocity of 140 ÷ 170 m/s using a gas gun. It was observed that dependence of the damage area on tow width on filament-wound composite tubes is possible.