Thin ply composite materials with embedded functional elements for cryogenic environments

Abstract

• Use of thin plies in fiber reinforced composites to reduce microcracking due to thermal cycling. • Embedding of metallic functional elements into fiber composites. • Damage due to metallic elements embedded in fiber reinforced composites after thermal cycling. Fiber reinforced polymer composites are popular in aerospace applications due to stiffness-to-weight advantages for large structures. However, microcracking presents a limitation to the application of composites at cryogenic temperatures. Moreover, the effects of embedded functional elements are unclear at these temperatures. This study proposes thin-ply composites as a damage mitigation strategy for cryogenic environments. Thermal cycling and subsequent mechanical testing demonstrate the effectiveness of this strategy and provides guidelines for the integration of embedded elements.