Influence of Biaxial Loads on Impact Fracture of High-Strength Membrane Materials

• Published in: Journal of the Japan Society for Composite Materials Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 129 - 138
• Main Authors: KUMAZAWA, Hisashi, SUSUKI, Ippei, HASEGAWA, Osamu, KASANO, Hideaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Japan Society for Composite Materials 2009
• ISSN: 0385-2563; 1884-8559
• DOI: 10.6089/jscm.35.129

Impact tests on high-strength membrane materials under biaxial loads were experimentally conducted in order to evaluate influence of biaxial loads on impact fracture of the high-strength membrane materials for the inflated applications. Cruciform specimens of the membrane materials were fabricated for applying biaxial loadings during the impact test. A steel ball was shot using compressed nitrogen gas gun, and struck the membrane specimen. Impact tests on uniaxial strip specimens were also conducted to obtain effect of specimen configuration and boundary condition on the impact fracture. The results of the measured crack length and the ultra-high speed photographs indicate the impact fracture properties of the membrane fabrics under biaxial loadings. Crack length due to the impact increased with applied tensile load, and the impact damages of the cruciform membrane materials under biaxial loadings were smaller than those of under uniaxial loadings. Impact fracture of the strip specimen was more severe than that of the cruciform specimen due to the difference of boundary conditions.