The mechanical performance and impact behaviour of carbon-fibre reinforced PEEK

The mechanical performance and impact behaviour of carbon-fibre reinforced polyether-ether ketone (PEEK) with a (0, ±45) lay-up has been compared with that of a similar carbon fibre/epoxy laminate. Differences occurred because of the greater shear strength and lower shear modulus of the carbon-fibre reinforced PEEK. When compared with the carbon fibre/epoxy laminate, carbon-fibre reinforced PEEK was more notch sensitive in tension and had a lower undamaged compressive strength. However, after impact, the residual compressive strength was significantly greater for carbon-fibre reinforced PEEK because delamination was less extensive.     

The fatigue damage mechanics of notched carbon fibre/PEEK laminates

A model is presented for the strength, post-fatigue residual strength and damage propagation in notched, cross-ply carbon fibre/polyetheretherketone (PEEK) laminates. Fracture mechanics principles are used to predict quasi-static damage growth, and the application of a Paris law permits extension to fatigue damage. Strength is predicted by applying a failure criterion based on the tensile stress distribution in the 0° plies, as modified by damage (either quasi-static or fatigue). The volume dependence of strength is included by using a simple Weibull distribution. The parameters of the model are determined from independent experiments. Good agreement with experimental results is obtained. Comparisons are made with previous results from carbon fibre/epoxy laminates. The behaviour of the carbon fibre/PEEK is similar, although the extent of delamination and matrix cracking is reduced owing to the higher inherent toughness of the matrix.     

Analyses of the mechanical properties and microstructure of bamboo-epoxy composites

Bamboo reinforced epoxy possesses reasonably good properties to waarrant its use as a structural material, and is fabricated by utilizing bamboo, an abundant material resource, in the technology of fibre composites. Literature on bamboo-plastics composites is rare. This work is an experimental study of unidirectional bamboo-epoxy laminates of varying laminae number, in which tensile, compressive, flexural and interlaminar shear properties are evaluated. Further, the disposition of bamboo fibre, the parenchymatous tissue, and the resin matrix under different loading conditions are examined. Our results show that the specific strength and specific modulus of bamboo-epoxy laminates are adequate, the former being 3 to 4 times that of mild steel. Its mechanical properties are generally comparable to those of ordinary glass-fibre composites. The fracture behaviour of bamboo-epoxy under different loading conditions were observed using both acoustic emission techniques and scanning electron microscopy. The fracture mode varied with load, the fracture mechanism being similar to glass and carbon reinforced composites. Microstructural analyses revealed that natural bamboo is eligibly a fibre composite in itself; its inclusion in a plastic matrix will help solve the problems of cracking due to desiccation and bioerosion caused by insect pests. Furthermore, the thickness and shape of the composite can be tailored during fabrication to meet specific requirements, thereby enabling a wide spectrum of applications.     

Effects of mean stress and fibre volume content on the fatigue-induced damage mechanisms in CFRP

The effect of the load type (tension and compression) in quasi-static and of the applied mean stress in fatigue tests on the mechanical behaviour and on the damage mechanisms in unidirectional (UD) carbon/epoxy laminates has been studied in combination with the influence of fibre volume content. Results show that the fibre volume content increases the mechanical properties in tension–tension fatigue tests for all tested angles 0°, 45° and 90°. The tensile damage mechanisms of off-axis specimens depend on the fibre volume content and change from matrix cracking and matrix–fibre debonding to fibre-pull out with an increasing amount of fibres as investigated in detail in a previous work. In tension–compression tests, higher fibre volume contents are only beneficial in fatigue tests at angles of 0° and 45°. Fatigue strengths of UD 90° specimens in tension–compression tests are not significantly improved by the fibre volume content which can be ascribed to breakage of entire fibre bundles and crushed fibres on the fracture surfaces.     

Characterization of transverse tensile, interlaminar shear and interlaminate fracture in CF/EP laminates with 10 wt% and 20 wt% silica nanoparticles in matrix resins

The transverse tensile properties, interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) and mode I and mode II interlaminar fracture toughness of carbon fibre/epoxy (CF/EP) laminates with 10 wt% and 20 wt% silica nanoparticles in matrix were investigated, and the influences of silica nanoparticle on those properties of CF/EP laminates were characterized. The transverse tensile properties and mode I interlaminar fracture toughness (G_IC) increased with an increase in nanosilica concentration in the matrix resins. However, ILSS and the mode II interlaminar fracture toughness (G_IIC) decreased with increasing nanosilica concentration, especially for the higher nanosilica concentration (20 wt%). The reduced G_IIC value is attributed to two main competing mechanisms; one is the formation of zipper-like pattern associated with matrix microcracks aligned 45° ahead of the crack tip, while the other is the shear failure of matrix. The ratio of G_IIC/G_IC decreased with the concentration of silica nanoparticles, comparable with similar CF/EP laminates with dispersed CNTs in matrix. Fractographic studies showed that interfacial failure between carbon fibre and epoxy resin occurred in the neat epoxy laminate, whereas a combination of interfacial failure and matrix failure occurred in the nanosilica-modified epoxy laminates, especially those with a higher nanosilica concentration (20 wt%).     

Response of notched carbon/PEEK and carbon/epoxy laminates subjected to tension fatigue loading

In this study a comparison is made between the tensile static and fatigue behaviours of quasi-isotropic carbon/PEEK and carbon/epoxy notched laminates, selected as separate representatives of both tough and brittle matrix composites. Damage progression was monitored by various non-destructive (ultrasonic scanning and x-radiography) and destructive (deply and microscopic examinations) techniques, and by continuously measuring the change in stiffness, in order to identify the effect of damage on mechanical properties.
The experimental observations indicated that fatigue damage in carbon/epoxy laminates consists of a combination of matrix cracks, longitudinal splitting and delaminations which attenuate the stress concentration and suppress fibre fracture at the notch; as a consequence, fatigue failure can be reached only after very high numbers of cycles while tensile residual strengths continuously increase over the range of lives investigated (10³–10⁶ cycles). Due to the superior matrix toughness and the high fibre-matrix adhesion, the nature of fatigue damage in carbon/PEEK laminates strongly depends on the stress level. At high stresses the absence of early splitting and delaminations promotes the propagation of fibre fracture therefore resulting in poor fatigue performances and significant strength reductions; while at low stress levels damage modes are matrix controlled and this again translates into very long fatigue lives. These results indicate a strong influence of the major damage mechanisms typical of the two material systems on the behaviour of the laminates, with the nature, more than the amount, of damage appearing as the controlling parameter of the material response up to failure.     

Flexural failure mechanisms and global stress plane for unidirectional composites subjected to four-point bending tests

Glass fibre-reinforced epoxy and polyester composites of different fibre/matrix interface strengths exhibited tensile, compressive and shear failure modes in four-point bending tests. The flexural tensile mechanism comprised fibre ridging, transverse matrix cracking and longitudinal matrix cracking; the flexural compressive mode was caused by microbuckling of fibres. The interface strength appeared to affect each of these failure mechanisms, with the flexural tensile mode associated with the strongest and the shear failure mode corresponding to the poorest interface condition. The apparent flexural strength also decreased rapidly as the interface degraded. These phenomena are rationalized by a newly developed ‘global stress plane’, the theoretical basis of which is that the dependency of the interlaminar shear strength on the interfacial shear strength is larger than that of the longitudinal compressive strength, which in turn is larger than that of the longitudinal tensile strength.     

Comparative study on the behavior of woven-ply reinforced thermoplastic or thermosetting laminates under severe environmental conditions

This work aims at determining whether thermoplastic-based composites can be used in secondary aircraft structures to replace thermosetting-based composites or not. In order to answer this question, the mechanical behaviors of carbon fiber fabric reinforced thermoplastic (PPS or PEEK) and thermosetting (epoxy) laminates subjected to different stress states under severe environmental conditions (120 °C after hygrothermal aging) have been compared. In addition to usual mechanical tests (tensile, open hole tensile), single-bolt double lap joint and single-bolt single lap joint tests were also performed. Severe conditions help enhance the ductile behavior of the epoxy matrix, but degrade the fiber/matrix interface, resulting in lower stiffness and strength of laminates with a quasi-isotropic lay-up. In thermoplastic-based laminates, the degree of retention of mechanical properties is quite high even for PPS-based laminates when T > T_g. In laminates with a [45]₇ lay-up, severe conditions adversely affect the mechanical properties of the three composite systems. However, the combination of matrix ductile behavior, and the strain gradient near the hole, lead to an extensive plastic deformation along the ±45° oriented fibers bundles in notched A-P laminates. It results in decreasing significantly the hole-sensitivity of C/PPS and C/Epoxy under severe conditions. In bolted joints, a severe environment has a limited impact on the bearing strength of epoxy-based laminates. In the case of thermoplastic-based laminates, it increases the strength of double lap joints, but is detrimental to the strength of single lap joints.     

Some aspects of crack growth and failure in fibre reinforced composites

A theoretical analysis, previously developed to deal with the machanics of matrix cracking in unidirectional composites and with transverse ply cracking in cross ply laminates, has been developed further to deal with the tensile failure of unidirectional fibrous composites in with the fibres have a known distribution of strengths. It is proposed that, under the application of a tensile load, stable transverse cracks are formed which originate from regions of initial damage and which become unstable at some critical strain value. The model takes account of various parameters including the interfacial fibre/matrix debonding energy, the residual frictional shear strength of the debonded interface and the elastic properties of fibres and matrix. Comparisons are made between the predictions of the model and the observed failing strains of the 0° plies in carbon fibre polymer matrix laminates. The relevance of the model to the study of delayed fracture in fibrous composites is discussed. The modification of this model, previously developed to describe crack growth in the transverse plies of 0°/90° laminates, is used to predict the initial cracking strains for a wide range of CFRP laminate geometries and initial crack sizes. Some aspects of the mechanics of crack extension across interply interfaces are discussed.     

Predicting the compressive engineering performance of carbon fibre-reinforced plastics

This paper examines the compressive strength data of a recent experimental study [Smith FC. The effect of constituents’ properties on the mechanical performance of fibre-reinforced plastics. PhD thesis. Centre for Composite Materials, Imperial College, April 1998] concerned with the evaluation of a range of engineering properties of continuous carbon fibre/epoxy composites subjected to static tensile and compressive loading. A plastic fibre kinking analysis [Budiansky B. Micromechanics. Comput Struct 1983;16(1):3–12] and a linear softening cohesive zone model (CZM) [Soutis C. Compressive failure of notched carbon fibre–epoxy panels. PhD thesis. Cambridge University Engineering Department, UK, 1989; Soutis C, Fleck NA, Smith PA. Failure prediction technique for compression loaded carbon fibre–epoxy laminates with an open hole. J Comp Mat 1991;25(5):1476–1498] are used for the prediction of the unnotched and open hole compressive strength (OHC) of unidirectional and multidirectional laminates made of six different commercially available CFRP prepregs. Damage introduced by drop-weight (low-velocity) impact is modelled as an equivalent open hole and the cohesive zone model [Soutis C. Compressive failure of notched carbon fibre–epoxy panels. PhD thesis. Cambridge University Engineering Department, UK, 1989; Soutis C, Fleck NA, Smith PA. Failure prediction technique for compression loaded carbon fibre–epoxy laminates with an open hole. J Comp Mat 1991;25(5):1476–1498] is applied to estimate compression-after-impact (CAI) strength. The unnotched strength is accurately predicted from the knowledge of initial fibre misalignment and the shear yield stress of the composite, while the difference between the theoretical and experimental OHC and CAI strength results in most cases is less than 10%.     

高温热塑性树脂基复合材料的断裂行为

本文研究了碳纤维增强高温热塑性塑料(PEEK)基复合材料的断裂行为.发现其强度极限没缺口断裂应力均高于同种纤维增强的热固性(环氧)树脂基材料,并且随0°叠层含量的增加,二者之间的差距加大.另外,前者比后者缺口敏感性低,断裂韧性高.      

Effects of the interface on the mechanical response of CF/EP microcomposites and macrocomposites

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the interfacial bond quality on the mechanical response of composite laminates, for example an epoxy matrix reinforced by continuous carbon fibres of varying surface coating. The fibre/matrix adhesion was characterized by determining the interfacial shear strength τ_i in single-fibre fragmentation and microdroplet pull-off tests. The failure mechanisms were deduced from the stress birefringent patterns (fragmentation test) and from fractographic analysis in a scanning electron microscope (microdroplet pull-off test). Selected interface-relevant properties were evaluated in mechanical tests on laminates. The present paper highlights the problems related to the micromechanical characterization and the interface relevance of data resulting from transverse tensile, transverse flexure and interlaminar shear tests. Furthermore, the effects of the interface on the impact performance of unidirectional and cross-ply laminates were studied. Attempts were made to correlate the macroscopic mechanical response with the interface-related characteristics (τ_i and failure mechanisms).     

Evaluation of three in-plane shear test methods for advanced composite materials

This paper is concerned with the evaluation of three in-plane shear test methods for advanced carbon fibre composites for aerospace applications. To accomplish this goal, the losipescu, ± 45° tensile and 10° off-axis tensile shear test methods were evaluated for three advanced epoxy matrix materials (Narmco 5245C, Hexcel F584 and American Cyanamid Cycom 1806) reinforced with Hercules IM6 carbon fibres. The values of in-plane shear moduli obtained from the three test methods and three materials were then used with other previously determined elastic constants to predict the tensile moduli of (+45°/0°/−45°/90°)_6s laminates. Comparison of the predicted and experimental laminate tensile moduli showed that any one of the three shear test methods was appropriate for determining the in-plane shear modulus to predict tensile moduli of symmetric laminates which consist of equal numbers of 0°, +45°, −45° and 90° oriented laminae.     

湿热环境下复合材料层板拉-压性能

通过对碳纤维环氧复合材料试样进行不同湿热环境下的拉伸和压缩实验,分析其吸湿特性、拉压力学性能、破坏后断口形貌以及动态力学性能,探讨湿热对该复合材料的拉伸和压缩性能的影响。结果表明:碳纤维环氧复合材料的吸湿过程满足Fick定律,饱和吸湿率约为0.86%。吸湿后材料表面变得光滑,有少量纤维拔出和树脂破坏发生,但吸湿后没有发生化学反应和新物质生成。吸湿后在130℃下,复合材料的拉伸性能保持率为96%,而压缩性能保持率仅为69%。吸湿后玻璃化转变温度比干态时下降了33℃。     

Mechanical properties,fatigue damage and microstructure of carbon/epoxy laminates depending on fibre volume content

This paper investigates the effect of fibre volume fraction on the fatigue behaviour and damage mechanisms of carbon/epoxy laminates. Epoxy resin and unidirectional carbon/epoxy specimens with two different fibre volume fractions are tested under quasi-static tensile and tension–tension fatigue loads at angles of 0°, 45° and 90°. Fracture surfaces are studied with scanning electron microscopy. The results show that stiffness and strength increase with increasing fibre volume fractions. The damage behaviour of off-axis specimens changes with increasing fibre volume content and the height of the applied cyclic load. While matrix cracking and interfacial debonding are dominating damage mechanisms in specimens with low fibre content, fibre bridging and pull out are monitored with increasing fibre content. The higher the applied load in fatigue tests transverse to fibre direction, the more similar behave specimens with different fibre volume fractions.     

Analysis of cracked laminates: a variational approach

Cross-ply ($\text{[0°}{}_{\mathrm{m}}\text{, 90°}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{]}{}_{\mathrm{s}}$) laminates which contain distributions of intralaminar cracks within the 90° ply are analyzed by variational methods for tensile and for shear membrane loading. Admissible stress systems which satisfy equilibrium and all boundary and interface conditions are constructed and the principle of minimum complementary energy is employed to find an optimal approximation. This yields approximate stress fields and rigorous lower bounds for stiffnesses. The analysis allows for crack interaction and statistical distribution of cracks. Results for Young's modulus are in perfect agreement with experimental data. Young's modulus and shear modulus results approach definite limits for large crack density. Typical stress variations are presented for glass/epoxy and for graphite/epoxy laminates and their implications for the progressive damage and failure process of laminates are discussed.     

湿热环境对碳纤维增强树脂基复合材料力学性能的影响及其损伤机理

采用加速吸湿法研究经3种湿热环境(湿度为85%RH,温度分别为25,70,85℃)处理后CFRP层合板的吸湿特性,对吸湿前后的碳纤维增强树脂基复合材料(CFRP)层合板分别进行拉伸、压缩、剪切实验,研究其力学性能变化规律,利用扫描电镜和红外光谱分析湿热环境中CFRP层板的损伤机理,最后采用最小二乘法拟合提出湿热环境下CFRP层合板力学性能的预测公式。结果表明:CFRP层合板的吸湿初期特性符合Fick定律;相同湿度下环境温度越高,CFRP的吸湿速率和平衡吸湿率越大,达到吸湿平衡所需时的间越长;3种湿热环境处理后的CFRP层板的90°拉伸和剪切力学性能下降最明显;经湿热环境处理后水分子通过氢键与环氧树脂发生缔合,但CFRP层合板中的各组分未发生化学结构变化;拟合建立的不同湿热条件下力学性能衰退公式与实验结果基本一致。     

Post-impact compressive behaviour of low temperature curing woven CFRP laminates

The polymeric matrix in a fibre-reinforced composite serves to bind the fibres together, transfer load to the fibres and protect them against environmental attack and damage due to handling. The matrix has a strong influence on several mechanical properties of the composite such as transverse modulus and strength, impact resistance, shear properties and properties in compression. This paper describes the results of an experimental study to determine the effect of resin (matrix) on the post-impact compressive behaviour of carbon fibre woven laminates. Three new low temperature cure (50–125°C) epoxy resins are examined: an unmodified (LTM12), a rubber-modified (LTM25) and a thermoplastic toughened epoxy resin (MT8E). Note, however, that the first two are post-cured at 190°C. Velocities and impact energies were used to simulate momenta typical of low velocity impact hazards associated with aircraft in-service. Measurements of impact damage and damage growth during compression are made using ultrasonic C-scanning and penetrant-enhanced X-ray radiography techniques. For low impact energies the superior performance of the thermoplastic toughened epoxy is confirmed. Its residual compressive strength compares favourably with that obtained for high strength carbon fibre/epoxy laminates manufactured from unidirectional sheets cured at 190°C.     

CF/EP composite laminates with carbon black and copper chloride for improved electrical conductivity and interlaminar fracture toughness

An experimental study was conducted to improve the electrical conductivity of continuous carbon fibre/epoxy (CF/EP) composite laminate, with simultaneous improvement in mechanical performance, by incorporating nano-scale carbon black (CB) particles and copper chloride (CC) electrolyte into the epoxy matrix. CF/EP laminates of 65 vol.% of carbon fibres were manufactured using a vacuum-assisted resin infusion (VARI) technique. The effects of CB and the synergy of CB/CC on electrical resistivity, tensile strength and elastic modulus and fracture toughness (K_IC) of the epoxy matrix were experimentally characterised, as well as the transverse tensile modulus and strength, Mode I and Mode II interlaminar fracture toughness of the CF/EP laminates. The results showed that the addition of up to 3.0 wt.% CB in the epoxy matrix, with the assistance of CC, noticeably improved the electrical conductivity of the epoxy and the CF/EP laminates, with mechanical performance also enhanced to a certain extent.     

Compression failure of carbon fibre-reinforced coupons containing central delaminations

As part of a study on the tolerance of carbon fibre-reinforced composites to impact, the effect of delaminations between the plies of laminates was investigated. Experiments were carried out on carbon fibre/PEEK and carbon fibre/epoxy coupons with artificially-introduced central delaminations to determine the effect on compressive strength. Delaminations in carbon fibre/epoxy grew prior to failure, those in carbon fibre/PEEK did not. A finite element method was developed to predict the strength reduction and delamination growth. It was found that the predictions matched experimental results, provided large displacement effects were included.