Abstract
The effect of several hygrothermal environments upon the uniaxial strength of centre-notched laminates, fabricated from a standard carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy system was investigated. Conditioned dry or wet specimens were tested in either tension or compression in a range of test temperatures: room temperature, 90°C, or 130°C. Two stacking sequences were studied: (±45°/0° 3/±45°/0°) s denoted A, and (0°/±45°/0° 2/±45°/0°) s denoted B. In the case of sequence A, two notch geometries were considered: a sharp 10 mm notch, and a circular 5 mm diameter hole; sequence B was investigated with a sharp notch only. Results indicated that, in general, the hygrothermal environments considered had a beneficial effect upon tensile strength and a detrimental effect upon compressive strength. The interactions of damage modes responsible for the observed behaviour have been isolated and schematically represented. It has been shown that such interactions depend upon the notch geometry as well as upon the stacking sequence.
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