Polysulfone nanofiber-modified composite laminates: Investigation of mode-I fatigue behavior and damage mechanisms

In this study, the fatigue properties of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite laminates were investigated, specifically focusing on the incorporation of 100-µm polysulfone (PSU) nanofibers as an interleaving material. The PSU nanofibers were produced using the electrospinning technique. Both quasi-static and fatigue tests were...

The thickness effect of psf nanofibrous mat on fracture toughness of carbon/epoxy laminates

The geometrical features of nanofibers, such as nanomat thickness and the diameter of nanofibers, have a significant influence on the toughening behavior of composite laminates. In this study, carbon/epoxy laminates were interleaved with polysulfone (PSF) nanofibrous mats and the effect of the PSF nanomat thickness on the fracture toughness...

The effect of mode II fatigue crack growth rate on the fractographic features of CFRP composite laminates: An acoustic emission and scanning electron microscopy analysis

The present study is focused on the characterization of the fatigue damage features in carbon/epoxy laminates under mode-II loading conditions. To this aim, a sinusoidal cyclic load was applied to the End-Notched Flexural (ENF) specimens and the fatigue behavior of specimens was investigated. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was used to...

Fatigue life prediction of carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy laminates using a single S-N curve

Fatigue life prediction models, used in the design and analysis of cyclic loaded structures, often require experimental data in order to interpolate or extrapolate fatigue behaviour to different loading conditions. Due to scatter in fatigue life data, as well as model input requirements of several S-N curves, large numbers of experimental tests...

The effect of X-core foam processing on surface defects in carbon fibre/epoxy sandwich composites: Redefining sandwich manufacturing with X-core

X-core is a novel foam core material developed by Donkervoort Automobielen, it enables a unique one-shot process for seamless composite sandwich structures with mould-defined features all-around. The foam is co-cured to carbon fibre/epoxy prepregs, in this form the process is currently used to make car components for the Donkervoort D8 GTO RS....

Compression-Compression and Tension-Compression Fatigue of Textile Carbon-Epoxy Composites: Experimental Testing and Instrumentation

Efficient design of woven composite structures is limited by a knowledge gap in predictive modeling of their behaviour. Fatigue modeling in particular is difficult and limited by a lack of experimental data. For compression-compression (C-C) or tension-compression (T-C) fatigue, experimental results in literature are uncommon. In this master...

Experimental and numerical characterization of impact on composites for automotive applications

Following the EU-28 targets, in 2050 a reduction in total energy consumption of 70% compared to the 2008 consumption is required driven by weight reduction in the road transportation industry. Because of the high specific strength and stiffness of composite materials, introduction of advanced composites in the vehicle design is observed. However...