Abstract
The impact response and damage of CLAS panel was investigated experimentally. The facesheet material used was RO4003 woven-glass hydrocarbon/ceramic and the core material was Nomex honeycomb with a cell size of 3.2mm and a density of 96 kg/$\textrm{m}^{3}$. The shield plane used was RO4003 and 2024-T3 aluminum. Static indentation and impact test was conducted to characterize the type and extent of the damage observed in two CLAS panels, and the performance of antenna used in a wireless LAN system. Correlation of peak contact force, residual indentation and the delamination area shows impact damage of the panel with an aluminum shield plane is larger than that of the panel with RO4003 shield plane, although tile former is more penetration resistant. The damage was observed by naked eye, ultrasonic inspection and cross sectioning. The shape and size of delamination was estimated by ultrasonic inspection, and the area of delamination linearly increases as impact energy increases. The performance of impact damaged antenna was estimated by measuring return loss and radiation pattern.
