The main aim of this paper is to investigate the behaviour of adhesively
bonded CFRP joints subjected to cyclic low-velocity impacts and to compare this with
fracture in specimens tested in standard fatigue (i.e. non-impacting, constant
amplitude, sinusoidal fatigue). It is seen that the accumulated energy associated with
damage in impact-fatigue is significantly lower than that associated with similar
damage in standard fatigue and that the mechanisms of failure are very different for
the two loading regimes. For both types of loading, fracture initiates in the adhesive
layer and then propagates into the 0º ply of the composite adjacent to the adhesive
layer. However, the fracture surfaces after impact-fatigue are generally less uniform
and exhibit more signs of high rate/brittle fracture than seen in the fracture surfaces
after standard fatigue testing. Various parameters are proposed to characterise damage
in standard and impact-fatigue and it is shown that crack velocity, accumulated
absorbed energy and normalised maximum force are all useful parameters for
characterising damage evolution.
History
School
Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Citation
CASAS-RODRIGUEZ, J.P., ASHCROFT, I.A. and SILBERSCHMIDT, V.V., 2008. Damage in adhesively bonded CFRP joints : sinusoidal and impact-fatigue. Composites Science and Technology, 68 (13), pp. 2663-2670 [doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2008.04.030]