Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) systems are expected to operate in high-tempo, high-density urban environments. AAM airframes, made of primarily composite materials, are susceptible to impact damage. In addition to hail, dropped tools, and bird strike, AAMs are also subject to other sharp and blunt impact sources in busy urban environments, such as drones, ground vehicles, golf balls, and other objects which previously were not considered as threats to conventional commercial aircraft. It is well-known that impact damage in composites materials may not be readily detectable due to viscoelastic behaviour. This work provides a preliminary examination of impact damage scenarios with a focus on damage threat types from the perspective of damage severity and damage detectability. The study features a combined experimental and numerical investigation of impact damage from a range of impactors, from sharp to blunt, and the post-damage load-carrying capabilities of composite laminates. High-fidelity impact modelling and compressive residual strength modelling provided a physics-based understanding of damage evolution and residual strength performance with excellent experimental agreement.
