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Polymers
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Dynamic Behavior of Polymer Composite Materials and Structures, 2nd Edition
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Dynamic Behavior of Polymer Composite Materials and Structures, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 2594

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hongxu Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Engineering and Technology, The University of New South Wales, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Interests: impact dynamics; composite materials; 3D printed materials; energy absorption structures; shock waves
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Changfang Zhao

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering Mechanics, CNMM and AML, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Interests: fiber reinforced plastics; mechanical metamaterials; polymer metamaterial; thin-walled structures; constitutive model of materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymer composite materials have found widespread applications across diverse engineering sectors, including the automotive, aviation, aerospace, and defense industries, owing to their high specific stiffness and strength. In such applications, composite structures are often subjected to dynamic loads, such as dropped tools, hailstones, windborne debris, and bird strikes. These dynamic events can cause severe damage, compromising the stiffness, strength, load-bearing capacity, structural integrity, and overall service life of composite structures. Therefore, understanding the dynamic mechanical behavior of polymer composites is essential for structural safety and has attracted increasing research interest in recent years.

Building upon the success of the 1st Edition of this Special Issue (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/polymers/special_issues/polymer_composite_structure_dynamic), this 2nd Edition aims to provide a platform for sharing the latest research advances in this field. We welcome original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and case studies that address the dynamic mechanical behavior of polymer composites under high strain rate conditions involving impact, blast, and shock loading. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, fiber-reinforced polymer laminates, sandwich panels, lightweight cellular solids, bioinspired composite materials, 3D-printed composites, etc. Submissions addressing innovative experimental techniques, advanced modeling and simulation approaches, diagnostic methods, and design optimization strategies for polymer composites in dynamic loading scenarios are also of particular interest. 

Dr. Hongxu Wang
Dr. Changfang Zhao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • composite laminates
  • sandwich structures
  • cellular and porous materials
  • bioinspired materials and structures
  • 3D-printed composite materials
  • fiber metal laminates
  • dynamic mechanical behavior
  • strain rate effect
  • impact resistance
  • penetration mechanics
  • crashworthiness and energy absorption
  • shock response and spall fracture
  • finite element modeling
  • optimization of composites

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2521 KB  
Article
Modeling and Comparative Study on Cure Kinetics for CFRP: Autocatalytic vs. Neural Network vs. Angle Information-Enhanced RBF Models
by Xintong Wu, Linman Wei, Ming Zhang, Zhongling Liu, Bin Xiao, Xiaobo Yang and Zan Yang
Polymers 2025, 17(22), 3059; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17223059 - 18 Nov 2025
Viewed by 374
Abstract
Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) components require precise curing process control to ensure quality, but traditional phenomenological cure kinetics models face limitations in handling nonlinearity and data diversity. This study addresses the challenges in modeling the cure kinetics of carbon fiber reinforced polymer [...] Read more.
Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) components require precise curing process control to ensure quality, but traditional phenomenological cure kinetics models face limitations in handling nonlinearity and data diversity. This study addresses the challenges in modeling the cure kinetics of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites, where traditional phenomenological models lack generalizability and neural networks suffer from robustness issues due to their numerous hyperparameters and data dependency. To overcome these limitations, a novel machine learning model called the angle information-enhanced radial basis function (RBF) model is proposed, which integrates both Euclidean distance and angular relationships between data points to improve prediction stability and accuracy. The performance of this machine learning approach is systematically compared against an autocatalytic model and a neural network using dynamic DSC data from T700/2626 epoxy resin at multiple heating rates. The angle-enhanced RBF model balances accuracy, efficiency, and robustness, offering a reliable data-driven alternative for CFRP cure kinetics prediction without requiring extensive data or complex hyperparameter optimization, thus facilitating better process control in manufacturing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamic Behavior of Polymer Composite Materials and Structures, 2nd Edition)
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24 pages, 3341 KB  
Article
Experimental Study on the Evolution of Mechanical Properties and Their Mechanisms in a HTPB Propellant Under Fatigue Loading
by Feiyang Feng, Xiong Chen, Jinsheng Xu, Yi Zeng, Wei Huang and Junchao Dong
Polymers 2025, 17(20), 2756; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17202756 - 15 Oct 2025
Viewed by 619
Abstract
In this study, we explored the evolution of mechanical properties in hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) propellants under fatigue loading by performing fatigue tests with varying maximum stresses and cycle numbers, followed by uniaxial tensile tests on post-fatigue specimens. Residual elongation was used as a [...] Read more.
In this study, we explored the evolution of mechanical properties in hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) propellants under fatigue loading by performing fatigue tests with varying maximum stresses and cycle numbers, followed by uniaxial tensile tests on post-fatigue specimens. Residual elongation was used as a key parameter to characterize mechanical behavior, while scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provided insights into the mesostructural morphological changes that occur under different loading conditions, revealing the mechanisms responsible for variations in mechanical properties. The results show that, as the number of loading cycles increases, residual elongation decreases, with three distinct phases of decline—slow change, gradual decline, and rapid deterioration—depending on the stress levels. SEM analysis identified damage mechanisms such as “dewetting” and particle fragmentation at the mesostructural level, which compromise the material’s structural integrity, leading to reduced residual elongation. A novel aspect of this study is the application of Williams–Landel–Ferry (WLF) theory to construct a master curve describing residual elongation decay. This approach enabled the development of a generalized model to predict the material’s degradation under fatigue loading, with experimental validation of the fitted evolution model, offering a new and effective method for assessing the long-term performance of HTPB propellants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamic Behavior of Polymer Composite Materials and Structures, 2nd Edition)
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15 pages, 4876 KB  
Article
Energy Absorption Characteristics of CFRP–Aluminum Foam Composite Structure Under High-Velocity Impact: Focusing on Varying Aspect Ratios and Relative Densities
by Jie Ren, Shujie Liu, Jiuhe Wang and Changfang Zhao
Polymers 2025, 17(15), 2162; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17152162 - 7 Aug 2025
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1116
Abstract
This study systematically investigates the high-velocity impact response and energy absorption characteristics of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP)—aluminum foam (AlF) hybrid composite structures, aiming to address the growing demand for lightweight yet high-performance energy-absorbing materials in aerospace and protective engineering applications. Particular emphasis is [...] Read more.
This study systematically investigates the high-velocity impact response and energy absorption characteristics of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP)—aluminum foam (AlF) hybrid composite structures, aiming to address the growing demand for lightweight yet high-performance energy-absorbing materials in aerospace and protective engineering applications. Particular emphasis is placed on elucidating the influence of key geometric and material parameters, including the aspect ratio of the columns and the relative density of the AlF core. Experimental characterization was first performed using a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) apparatus to evaluate the dynamic compressive behavior of AlF specimens with four different relative densities (i.e., 0.163, 0.245, 0.374, and 0.437). A finite element (FE) model was then developed and rigorously validated against the experimental data, demonstrating excellent agreement in terms of deformation modes and force–displacement responses. Extensive parametric studies based on the validated FE framework revealed that the proposed CFRP-AlF composite structure achieves a balance between specific energy absorption (SEA) and peak crushing force, showing a significant improvement over conventional CFRP or AlF. The confinement effect of CFRP enables AlF to undergo progressive collapse along designated orientations, thereby endowing the CFRP-AlF composite structure with superior impact resistance. These findings provide critical insight for the design of next-generation lightweight protective structures subjected to extreme dynamic loading conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamic Behavior of Polymer Composite Materials and Structures, 2nd Edition)
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