Intralaminar toughness characterisation of unbalanced hybrid plain weave laminates

A numerical and experimental investigation on the mode-I intralaminar toughness of a hybrid plain weave composite laminate manufactured using resin infusion under flexible tooling (RIFT) process is presented in this paper. The pre-cracked geometries consisted of overheight compact tension (OCT), dou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Composites. Part A, Applied science and manufacturing Applied science and manufacturing, 2007-06, Vol.38 (6), p.1597-1611
Main Authors: Donadon, Mauricio V., Falzon, Brian G., Iannucci, Lorenzo, Hodgkinson, John M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
A. Fabrics/textiles
Applied sciences
B. Fracture toughness
C. Finite element modelling
D. Resin infusion under flexible tooling (RIFT)
Exact sciences and technology
Forms of application and semi-finished materials
Laminates
Polymer industry, paints, wood
Technology of polymers
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Summary:A numerical and experimental investigation on the mode-I intralaminar toughness of a hybrid plain weave composite laminate manufactured using resin infusion under flexible tooling (RIFT) process is presented in this paper. The pre-cracked geometries consisted of overheight compact tension (OCT), double edge notch (DEN) and centrally cracked four-point-bending (4PBT) test specimens. The position as well as the strain field ahead of the crack tip during the loading stage was determined using a digital speckle photogrammetry system. The limitation on the applicability of the standard data reduction schemes for the determination of intralaminar toughness of composite materials is presented and discussed. A methodology based on the numerical evaluation of the strain energy release rate using the J-integral method is proposed to derive new geometric correction functions for the determination of the stress intensity factor for composites. The method accounts for material anisotropy and finite specimen dimension effects regardless of the geometry. The approach has been validated for alternative non-standard specimen geometries. A comparison between different methods currently available for computing the intralaminar fracture toughness in composite laminates is presented and a good agreement between numerical and experimental results using the proposed methodology was obtained.
ISSN:1359-835X
1878-5840
DOI:10.1016/j.compositesa.2006.12.003