Abstract
The impact event involves the motion of the specimen, the motion of the striker and the local indentation in the contact zone. In order to study the effect of the local indentation, epoxy-carbon fiber laminate specimens supported on a very rigid steel plate, were subjected to low energy impacts in an instrumented falling weight dotted with an instrumented striker with an hemispherical head. The obtained restitution coefficients show that the energy absorption by indentation is not negligible. It has been developed a lumped mass spring model based in the Hertz law which agrees with the experimental contact forces, indenter displacements and restitution coefficient, which give a very good fitting. This non-conservative model allowed assessment of the Young's modulus at these relatively high strain rates.