Impact properties

An aircraft structure should be able to tolerate a certain amount of impact energy and damage, dependent on the location and probability of impact. The structural design and material choice must guarantee the structural integrity after a realistic impact event. For Glare the impact damage resistance is related to the aluminium and glass fibre/epoxy properties. Glare is stronger than aluminium at higher impact velocities due to the strain rate dependent behaviour of the fibres. The dent depth after impact is comparable to aluminium with the same thickness. The residual properties for Glare are comparable to (e.g. compressive strength), or better than (e.g. fatigue) monolithic aluminium. The inspection of a Glare structure is no more complicated than for aluminium, since Glare has the same indentation and because the damage size due to impact is smaller than the visible dent size.