Objectives  This paper aims to study the effects of initial cracks on the dynamic response of aluminum alloy plate under repeated impacts.

  Methods  Through the repeated impact test and finite element simulation of the aluminum alloy plate, we analyze the dynamic response characteristics of the aluminum alloy plate under repeated impacts, and compare the impact loads and failure modes of the aluminum alloy plate with and without initial cracks.

  Results  The test results are in good agreement with the simulation calculations. The results show that the aluminum alloy plate is sensitive to initial cracks under repeated impacts; the initial cracks can reduce the load carrying capacity of the aluminum alloy plate, resulting in the reduced impact load and the reduced number of the repeated impacts for failure; the failure modes are also influenced by the initial cracks under repeated impacts.

  Conclusions  The research in this paper provides a certain basis and reference for calculating and evaluating the structure strength of aluminum alloy hull plate.