Fatigue behaviour of glass/epoxy laminates in the presence of voids. (February 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Maragoni, L.; Carraro, P.A.; Peron, M.; Quaresimin, M.
• Is Part Of: International journal of fatigue. Volume 95(2017)
• Page Start: 18
• Page End: 28
• Publication Date: 2017-02
• Subjects: Composites -- Defects -- Damage accumulation -- Crack initiation -- Fatigue crack growth; Materials -- Fatigue -- Periodicals; Materials -- Fatigue; Periodicals; 620.1122
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2016.10.004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0142-1123

Abstract

Highlights: [0/902 ]S and [0/452 /0/−452 ]S G/E laminates were produced by vacuum resin infusion. Using different process parameters, different void contents were obtained. Fatigue damage initiation, evolution and stiffness drop were deeply affected by voids. A larger influence of voids was found for the cross-ply laminates. Both void content and size contributed to decreasing the fatigue performances. Abstract: In the present work, glass/epoxy panels with stacking sequence [0/902 ]S and [0/452 /0/−452 ]S were produced by vacuum resin infusion. Using different process parameters, which may lead to cost saving, also the presence of porosity was obtained in the laminates. Specimens were tested under uniaxial tensile fatigue loadings, monitoring the initiation and propagation of cracks in the off-axis plies. The performance of the material and the effect of porosity were evaluated in terms of life to crack initiation, crack growth rate, crack density evolution and stiffness degradation. A detrimental effect of the porosity was found even for a very low void content, highlighting the importance of properly accounting for their presence in the design of composite parts.