Co-cure joining of epoxy composites with rapidly UV-irradiated PEEK and PPS composites to achieve high structural integrity

Efficient joining of hybrid thermoset/thermoplastic composite joints is critical to produce high performance lightweight structures while keeping the cost low. Herein, a high-power UV-irradiation technique was proposed to rapidly active the surfaces of PEEK and PPS composites for the following co-cure joining with epoxy composites. A single...

The effect of bond-line thickness on fatigue crack growth rate in adhesively bonded joints

The effect of adhesive thickness on fatigue crack growth in an epoxy film adhesive (FM94) was investigated, using a combination of experiments and numerical modelling. For the range of thicknesses investigated an increased thickness led to an increased crack growth rate. It was found that the energy required per unit of crack growth did not...

Using acoustic emission to understand fatigue crack growth within a single load cycle

Current methods for prediction of fatigue crack growth are based on empirical correlations which do not take the crack growth behaviour within a single cycle into account. To improve these prediction methods, more understanding of the physical mechanisms of crack growth is required. In this research the acoustic emission technique was used to...