Fatigue Damage Progression of Woven Fabric Composites under Cyclic Loading (Observation of Initial Damage Process by Thermoelastic Image Technique)

Abstract

Initial fatigue damage process of plain woven CF/epoxy composites was studied with thermoelastic image technique. Thermoelastic damage analysis was conducted to evaluate the fatigue damage in the specimen. The experimental results showed that the damage initiation points were widely scattered in the location of the material. The each area, where the damage initiated, had different damage level at any fatigue cycles. The thermoelastic damage response can be an indicator for the state of fatigue damage of the composites. The thermoelastic damage analysis also predicted that the initial fatigue damage process of plain woven fabric composites changed when the local damage area was distributed in lateral direction of the specimen.