Examining slow crack growth metrics and competing failure modes in IM7/5320-1 carbon fiber reinforced polymer laminates with pre-existing damage states

Abstract

The growing use of composites in aircraft structures has necessitated a slow growth criteria to assess the life of these materials and an appropriate similitude parameter. Due to the simplified stress state and inherent interactions of intralaminar and interlaminar damage progression in multi-directional ply layups, there have been questions about the applicability of double cantilever beam specimens to aerospace applications. This study examines these interconnected damage growth mechanisms in [±453]s and [±452/902]s layups via compact tension specimen geometries, with and without pre-existing damage, in order to examine the efficacy of proposed similitude parameters in capturing slow crack growth. The change in stored potential strain energy per cycle provided the most unified results across the 18 tests under different loading and pre-existing damage conditions. Via microscopy of the specimens after damage progression, the similitude parameters were connected to overall trends in the damage mechanisms. The fatigue results, coupled with the microscopy of the interactions amongst the complex damage mechanisms, demonstrates the need to analyze proposed similitude parameters across various sample geometries and stress states, which will be more enable an understanding of composite material fatigue performance in aerospace applications.