Fracture toughness of unidirectional fiber–metal laminates: crack orientation effect

Abstract

Fiber–metal laminates (FMLs) are structural composites developed for aeronautical applications. The application of FMLs to structures demands a deep knowledge of a wide set of properties, including fracture toughness. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of crack orientation on the fracture toughness (critical J-integral and CTOD δ 5) of unidirectional FMLs. Small C(T) and SE(B) specimens with notches parallel and perpendicular to the fibers direction were tested. A study of the relation and equivalence between J C and δ 5C, which heavily depend on the yield strength and on the stress state, was performed motivated by apparently contradictory experimental results. These results can be explained by the direction-dependent yielding properties of unidirectional FMLs. The best overall equivalence between J C and δ 5C was obtained considering plane stress state and using the effective yield strength, both for unidirectional FMLs notched parallel and perpendicular to the fibers direction.