Very High-Cycle Fatigue Characteristics of Cross-Ply CFRP Laminates in Transverse Crack Initiation

Abstract

Fan blades are subjected to very high-cycle loadings during the design life, so it is essential to evaluate the giga-cycle fatigue characteristics of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates. In this study, the transverse crack initiation of the cross-ply CFRP laminates in very high-cycle fatigue region was evaluated using an ultrasonic fatigue testing machine. The fatigue tests were conducted at the frequency of f = 20 kHz and the stress ratio of R = −1. In order to suppress temperature rise of the specimen, the intermittent operation with the loading time of 200 ms and the dwelling time of 2000 ms was adopted. The fatigue life data to transverse crack initiation in very high-cycle fatigue region was compared with the data of the fatigue test which was conducted at the frequency of f = 5 Hz and the stress ratios of R = 0.1 and −1 using a hydraulic control fatigue test machine. It was evaluated considering the influences of the stress ratio and the thermal residual stress by using the modified Walker model. The fatigue life to the transverse crack initiation of the cross-ply CFRP laminates in the very high-cycle region exceeding 108 cycles was on the extension of the test data in the low cycle region.