The influence of thermal contact resistance on the thermal history in laser-assisted fiber placement

The temperature history during the laser assisted fiber placement (LAFP) process is very important since it significantly influences the final quality of the structure. Air pockets between subsequent plies, caused by the lack of intimate contact, act as insulators and reduce the through-thickness heat transfer. This phenomenon is commonly...

Effect of resin-rich bond line thickness and fibre migration on the toughness of unidirectional Carbon/PEEK joints

It is a common practice in fusion bonding of thermoplastic composites to add a matrix layer between the two substrates to be joined. The aim is to ensure proper wetting of the two parts. The effect of this additional matrix layer on the mechanical performance was studied by mode I fracture toughness measurements. The additional matrix was...

Interlaminar fracture toughness of 5HS Carbon/PEEK laminates. A comparison between DCB, ELS and mandrel peel tests

The present work focuses on the applicability of the mandrel peel test to quantify the interlaminar fracture toughness of 5 harness satin woven fabric Carbon/PEEK composites. For this purpose, the Mandrel Peel (MP) test was compared to the Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) and End-Loaded Split (ELS) test in terms of experimental procedure and...