Control of Compressive Fatigue Delamination Propagation of Impact Damaged Composites Using Discrete Thermoplastic Interleaves

Abstract

A novel delamination damage control and management concept is demonstrated showing how, through selective placement of discrete thermoplastic film interleaves, it is possible to manipulate the formation of impact damage and control its subsequent propagation during compressive fatigue cyclic loading.This process has been shown to significantly improve the fatigue life of the composite panels tested by an average of 13 times. It is proposed that this method of controlling delamination damage growth may lead to lower weight damage tolerant composite designs resulting in more cost effective composite structures.2

Influence of Interleaved Films on the Mechanical Properties of Carbon Fiber Fabric/Polypropylene Thermoplastic Composites

“…However, with interleaved film inside, damage was observed over a smaller area. It implies that interleaved film improved the impact strength of the composite [ 28 , 29 , 30 ].…”

Enhancement in Interply Toughness of BMI Composites Using Micro-Thin Films

“…To identify a compatible thermoplastic material, an extensive literature survey was carried out (e.g., [1,7,10,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]). A few materials were selected initially and their characteristics after melting as well as during the cool down process were studied.…”

Non-destructive monitoring of delamination healing of a CFRP composite with a thermoplastic ionomer interlayer

“…Alternatively, to raise the impact resistance and interlaminar fracture toughness of FRPC's, thermoplastic interlayers in between the composite plies have been proposed [5,6]. The interlayers lower the overall mechanical properties but prevent wide spreading of the impact damage as they 'contain' the damage by delamination at the interlayer-FRPC interface or by internal damage [7]. A further and as-yet barely explored advantage of such thermoplastic interlayers is that they can be made out of self-healing polymers, i.e.…”