Impact behaviour of composite panel subjected to in-plane load

16TH International Conference on Composite Materials (ICCM-16), Kyoto, Japan, Jul 8-13, 2007 This work investigates the effect that a biaxial preload causes on woven laminate panels of glass fibre and polyester matrix subjected to high-velocity transversal impact. For this, an existing analytic model based on energy considerations was used, this being modified to include the presence of a preload. The results of the analytic model for the biaxial preload state were compared with the results found for the free state of preload. Minimal difference was found between the two results. Therefore, numerical simulations were made to order to study the effect of the preload in greater detail; furthermore, experimental tests were made, validating the analytic and numerical model. In general, the two methods revealed minimal differences between the values of the ballistic limit and those of the residual velocity. The Spanish Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología(Project MAT2001-0735)