Environmental effects on mode II fatigue delamination growth in an aerospace grade carbon/epoxy composite

• Published in: Composites. Part A, Applied science and manufacturing Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 475 - 485
• Main Authors: Landry, Benoit, LaPlante, Gabriel, LeBlanc, Luc R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; B. Delamination; B. Environmental degradation; C. Finite element analysis (FEA); carbon; Composites; D. Mechanical testing; delamination; epoxides; Exact sciences and technology; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; Laminates; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Technology of polymers; B. Environmental degradation; D. Mechanical testing; C. Finite element analysis (FEA); B. Delamination; Finite element method; Epoxy resin; Polymer; Mineral fiber; Delamination; Modeling; Composite material; Carbon fiber
• ISSN: 1359-835X; 1878-5840
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2011.11.015

An investigation of the effects of water, hydraulic fluid and deicing fluid exposure on mode II delamination propagation in an aerospace grade composite is presented. All exposed specimens suffered a loss in delamination toughness and an increase in fatigue delamination growth rate, which was particularly significant for deicing fluid exposure. The number of cycles for delamination onset was also reduced by these exposures, although scanning electron micrographs showed no significant differences between the fracture pattern of dry and exposed specimens. It was also shown that environmental effects can be simply accounted for in a cohesive zone based finite element model.