Long-Term Exposure of Adhesively Bonded Thin Polymer Composite Laminates in Low Earth Orbit Environment

A summary of the results of the long-term passive exposure of adhesively bonded joints of polymer composite laminates on the outboard of the Mir space station and the in situ experiment on the functional cargo block of the International Space Station are presented. Crack resistance, structure and pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:High performance polymers 2001-09, Vol.13 (3), p.S461-S466
Main Authors: Babayevsky, Petr G, Kozlov, Nicolai A, Shubin, Alexander N, Smirnova, Tatiyana N
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:A summary of the results of the long-term passive exposure of adhesively bonded joints of polymer composite laminates on the outboard of the Mir space station and the in situ experiment on the functional cargo block of the International Space Station are presented. Crack resistance, structure and properties of the adhesive joints were examined after passive exposure. Subcritical crack propagation control in the same type of adhesively bonded joints was carried out during the experiment in outer space. It was shown that the long-term exposure increases the brittleness of the adhesive joints due to postcuring processes, elimination of low molecular weight components and interphase damage formation. The subcritical crack propagation velocity is of the same order as on-ground check tests, but can occur under lower G I values.
ISSN:0954-0083
1361-6412
DOI:10.1088/0954-0083/13/3/337