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The effect of voids on quasi-isotropic carbon-fibre reinforced plastic laminates under quasi-static loading is compared with that under cyclic tension loading. Emphasis is placed on following damage development at the non-crimp fabric plylevel by investigating the influence of voids on damage accumulation, most notably transverse cracking and delamination. Details from experiments include micrographs of voids taken in both scanning-electron and light microscopy, measurements of void content and crack density using light microscopy, and stiffness plots from both quasi-static and cyclic tests. The stiffness results are compared with theoretical predictions accounting for transverse cracks. Voids have a significantly more detrimental effect on the mechanical properties in cyclic loading compared with quasi-static loading. Specifically, the stiffness reduction development, the underlying transverse cracking in layers and the number of cycles to failure are affected. Quality control by only quasi-static testing for void-containing composite materials to be used in components subjected to fatigue cannot therefore be recommended.

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In the present study, non-crimp fabric (NCF) composite face sheet sandwich panels have been tested in compression after impact (CAI). Damage in the face sheets was characterised by fractography. Compression after impact loaded panels were found to fail by plastic fibre microbuckling (kinking) in the damaged face sheet. Studies of panels for which loading was interrupted prior to failure revealed extensive stable kink band formation at several positions and in numerous plies. Kink bands initiated and propagated within a wide region close to the point of impact. In addition, kink bands initiated in zones with high shear stresses, away from the impact centre line. Consequently, the fractographic results from this investigation do not support the assumption of modelling the impact damage as an equivalent hole. To achieve accurate predictions of kink band initiation, the stress field must be known. The results from this study imply that bending effects caused by remaining dent or material eccentricities in the damaged region must be considered.

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