Mode-II fracture behaviour of aerospace-grade carbon fibre/epoxy composites interleaved with thermoplastic veils

Mode-II fracture behaviour of aerospace-grade carbon fibre/epoxy composites interleaved with thermoplastic veils

Quan, D. (TU Delft Structural Integrity & Composites)
Bologna, Francesca (University College Dublin)
Scarselli, Gennaro (University College Dublin; University of Salento)
Ivanković, Alojz (University College Dublin)
Murphy, Neal (University College Dublin)

2020-05-03

Thermoplastic veils based on Polyethylene-terephthalate (PET), Polyphenylene-sulfide (PPS) and Polyamide-12 (PA) fibres (∼10μm in diameter) were used to interlay unidirectional (UD), non-crimp fabric (NCF) and 5-Harness satin weave (5H) carbon fibre laminates. The PET and PPS veils remained in a fibrous form and the PA veils melted during the laminate curing process. The results of an end-loaded split test demonstrated significant improvements in the mode-II fracture performance in all cases. In general, interlaying thermoplastic veils was most efficient for toughening the UD laminates, with reduced improvements observed for the 5H and NCF laminates, respectively. The main toughening mechanism of the intact PET and PPS veils was thermoplastic fibre bridging. The melted PA veils mainly improved the fracture toughness of the epoxy at the mid-plane. The different toughening mechanisms of the veils, combined with different fracture mechanisms between the UD, NCF and 5H laminates, resulted in significantly different toughening levels.

A: Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs)
A: Thermoplastic veils
B: Fracture toughness
C: Fibre bridging
D: Fractography

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:92efdbf4-bdc4-4a4a-9a01-d7d2c2c4d2d4

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2020.108065

2022-02-20

0266-3538

Composites Science and Technology, 191

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2020 D. Quan, Francesca Bologna, Gennaro Scarselli, Alojz Ivanković, Neal Murphy