Artificial bodies intentionally placed into low orbit around the earth (LEO) are exposed to critical thermal and mechanical in-service conditions, e.g. severe thermal cycling and micrometeoroid impact. To better understand the response of Glare™-5 2/1 fiber-metal laminate under such conditions, pristine test coupons were subjected to low-energy ballistic impact (21 J) at the temperatures of-196 and 100 °C. Another set of test pieces went through the same experimental conditions, except that they were first submitted to 1,200 thermal shock cycles from-196 to 100 °C. Thermally conditioned specimens exhibited higher resistance to externally visible damage in both test temperatures. On the other hand, internal failure mechanisms characterized via microscopy and X-ray CT inspection techniques have shown that specimens submitted to cryogenic impact after repeated thermal cycling presented the best impact resistance, being age hardening of outer 2024-T3 Al-alloy sheets a possible enhancing factor; besides, residual thermal stresses in the core glass fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix, associated to the post-cure of the latter may have led to higher interlaminar strength.
Co‐cured parts usually have their application where large monolithic composite structures are desired. This study evaluated the mechanical response in monotonic tensile test of bidirectional glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) co‐cured joints manufactured by Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion – VARTM. All joints were designed with the same number of fiber plies and joint length, varying only the joint geometry. Three geometries were studied: single lap joint (SLJ), stepped lap joint (STJ), and a new concept proposed in this study called interspersed lap joint (ILJ), the latter provides higher shear area and interfacial contact area per layer. Tensile test pointed STJ as presenting 77% of the monolithic GFRP tensile strength, the highest ultimate tensile strength among the studied joints. Void content and failure analysis showed high levels of porosity in the joint region for the ILJ, and also a weak bond between the adherents, which may result in a poor mechanical performance. In summary, simple modifications, such as plies disposal prior infusion can benefit the mechanical properties achieved for co‐cured joints.
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