On the failure mode in dry and hygrothermally aged short fiber-reinforced injection-molded polyarylamide composites by acoustic emission

The failure mode in injection-molded short glass (GF) and carbon fiber (CF) reinforced polyarylamide (PAR) composites was studied on compact tension (CT) specimens in as-received (AR), hygrothermally aged (HA) and re-dried (RD) states, respectively, using acoustic emission (AE) and fractography. A significant difference was revealed in the failure manner characterized by the cumulative run, amplitude and energy distribution of the AE events as a function of the water content of the composites. Furthermore, a correlation was found between the cumulative AE events up to the maximum load and the fracture toughness of the composites. It was shown that the fracture response and thus the failure behavior of the water-saturated PAR composites can be restored by drying. This fact indicates that the water absorption and desorption are of a purely physical nature, i.e. they are reversible processes. It was established that chopped fiber-reinforced PAR composites fail by matrix deformation along with fiber/matrix debonding in the crack initiation, whereas fiber pull-out becomes dominant in the crack propagation range. Water uptake shifts both the AE amplitude and energy curves toward lower values, a phenomenon attributed to plastification of the PAR matrix by water.On leave from Institute of Machine Parts, Technical University of Budapest, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary.On leave from School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.