Structural behaviour of composite structures under projectile and laser impact

Prof Yixia (Sarah) Zhang

School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Technology Sydney

Abstract: Composite materials such as carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) have been used widely in various engineering applications including aircrafts and marine structures due to their light weight, high strength, fatigue resistance and other superior mechanical properties. This keynote presentation will introduce the start-of-the-art numerical modelling frameworks developed for predicting the structural and damage behaviour of composites subjected to extreme loading including laser irradiation and projectile impact. The characteristics and application of composite structures including composite laminates and sandwich panels with laminate as skin and aluminium foam as core are introduced first. The numerical modelling of composite sandwich panels subject to high velocity projectile impact will be presented along with the experimental studies which are used to validate the numerical model. Next, the numerical modelling framework for composite laminates under laser irradiation will be presented, and the experimental work used to validate the numerical model is also introduced. Finally the coupled thermal and mechanical model based on a finite element framework in COMSOL Multiphysics to model the laser paint stripping of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) will also be covered in this presentation. The removal of protective coatings from composite structure surfaces is a critical challenge in aerospace maintenance and repair operation. The developed model provides insights into temperature distribution, ablation depth, and the coupled thermo-mechanical effects within the paint layers and CFRP substrate, facilitating efficient and damage-free paint removal from CFRP substrates using the optimal laser parameters. The effectiveness and robustness of numerical modelling in predicting the structural damage and analysing and understanding the insight and mechanism of composite structures under complex extreme loadings are well demonstrated.

Keywords: Composite structures, impact, laser irradiation, numerical modelling

Bio: Prof. Yixia (Sarah Zhan) is Fellow of Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering, Head of School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering and Professor in Engineering at Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at University of Technology Sydney. Before she moved to the current position in March 2025, she worked for six years at Western Sydney University (WSU) as Professor of Engineering in School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment. At WSU, she worked in multiple leadership roles at the university and school level including Deputy Chair/Acting Chair of Academic Senate, founding co-director of the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing Technology, and Discipline Lead of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She worked in the University of New South Wales for 15 years staying 12 years in UNSW Canberra. She received her PhD on Structural Engineering from the University of Hong Kong in 2001. Prof. Zhang has been serving as the member of Australian Research Council (ARC) College of Expert since 2021. She is the editor of Construction and Building Materials, chair of Engineering Australian Joint Civil/Structural Sydney Committee and Executive Committee member for Australian Computational Mechanics Association. 

Prof. Zhang is a research leader in construction sustainability and structural resilience and has strong expertise in advanced composite materials and structures including construction and building materials in Civil Engineering and composites in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering. She has published 1 book, 4 edited books, 24 book chapters and over 410 peer-reviewed scholarly research papers with 220 in top international journals till April 2025. She was the recipient of a several major national research excellence awards.