Transverse Crack Initiation in Thin-Ply Laminates Subjected to Tensile Loading at Low and Cryogenic Temperatures
Mechanics of Composite Materials 2024
Andrejs Pupurs, Mohamed Loukil, Erik Marklund, Jānis Vārna, David Mattsson

Laminates with ultra-thin plies is a promising new development for polymeric composite materials expected to provide superior resistance to intralaminar crack propagation. The ply thickness effect on the crack initiation stress that according to some theoretical studies on fiber/matrix debonding does not depend on the ply thickness was investigated. Ultra-thin ply carbon fiber/epoxy cross-ply laminates subjected to tensile loading at room, –50, and –150°C temperatures relevant for cryogenic fuel storage, aeronautical, and aerospace applications were studied. The stochastic nature of the crack initiation stress in the 90°-plies was analyzed using Weibull strength distribution. The results obtained show delayed transverse crack initiation only in the thinnest plies with a clear trend that the scale parameter is much larger. This thickness effect on initiation is different than that for crack propagation which is observable in much larger ply thickness range. Regarding crack propagation, it was found that in most cases even at very high applied strain levels (1.5%) only a few transverse cracks have propagated from the specimen edges to its middle.


Keywords
cryogenic temperatures; experimental testing; thin-ply laminates; transverse cracking
DOI
10.1007/s11029-023-10156-0
Hyperlink
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11029-023-10156-0

Pupurs, A., Loukil, M., Marklund, E., Vārna, J., Mattsson, D. Transverse Crack Initiation in Thin-Ply Laminates Subjected to Tensile Loading at Low and Cryogenic Temperatures. Mechanics of Composite Materials, 2024, Vol. 59, No. 6, pp.1049-1064. ISSN 0191-5665. e-ISSN 1573-8922. Available from: doi:10.1007/s11029-023-10156-0

Publication language
English (en)
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