The Effect of Moisture Intake on the Mode-II Dynamic Fracture Behavior of Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composites

Morales, R. Chavez; Eliasson, Veronica

doi:10.1007/s40870-020-00260-w

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Chavez and Eliasson found that moisture uptake in unidirectional carbon/epoxy composites lead to a 30% decrease in the dynamic Mode-II SIF from the ambient condition. 2 This is a consistently observed trend for the Mode-II fracture toughness of composites under quasi-static loading. 42,43 The trending effect of moisture absorption on the Mode-I SIF under quasi-static conditions is less consistent, as some studies report observing an increase in fracture toughness with increased moisture, 42,44,45 some studies report no effect of moisture on the fracture toughness, 46,47 and some report a decrease in fracture toughness with increased moisture.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 55%

“…The fiber volume fraction of the material was approximately 55%. Chavez and Eliasson, 2 as well as Coker and Rosakis, 13 both investigated the fracture toughness of unidirectional carbon fiber/epoxy composites with the same layup as used in this study, allowing for comparison with results obtained by these authors. Coker and Rosakis investigated the ambient condition Mode-I and Mode-II behavior of these materials with no water uptake, while Chavez focused solely on the Mode-II behavior with water uptake.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Many of these applications require materials to be exposed to marine or other aqueous environments during their work-life. It has been observed that typical carbon fiber reinforced composites absorb moisture when exposed to aqueous environments, which often negatively affects their performance 2–5 Moisture uptake can lead to matrix swelling, surface degradation, reduction in the glass transition temperature, and reduction in other mechanical and physical properties. 6 The addition of saline to the water solution may also affect the material degradation over time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most notable study investigating dynamic fracture of hygrothermally aged composites was performed by Chavez and Eliasson. 2 This study focused on the effect of moisture uptake on the Mode-II (tearing mode) dynamic fracture behavior, and did not investigate the Mode-I (opening mode) behavior. It is also noted that Chavez et al compared the effects of aging processes on the dynamic responses of the samples, considering samples subjected to hygrothermal aging, as well as samples that were naturally aged at room temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Dynamic fracture behavior of hygrothermally degraded carbon epoxy composites

Pittman

Lamberson

2022

Journal of Composite Materials

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Composite structures used in aerospace, automotive, and military applications are often subjected to aggressive marine or water environments during their service life that can cause material degradation over time. Many composites absorb moisture when exposed to wet environments which may affect their microstructure, consequently influencing their bulk material properties and performance. Additionally, certain applications may require them to be subjected to seawater environments where the addition of saline can further degrade the material over time. This experimental investigation examines the effects of moisture absorption and saline on the dynamic fracture behavior of unidirectional carbon epoxy composites. To accelerate mass absorption, samples were soaked in elevated temperature baths (70°C) of either ASTM standard seawater or distilled water. To explore the role of absorption duration on the dynamic fracture behavior, soaking time varied between 3.5 hours and longer than 4 months. Pre-cracked specimens were impacted using a long-bar striker device at 4 m/s, to instigate a dominantly Mode-I (opening) fracture response. Digital image correlation was used in conjunction with ultra-high-speed imaging to track the crack tip surface displacements and an elastodynamic solution for an orthotropic material leveraged to extract the stress intensity factor (SIF) up to and at initiation. The critical SIF of the soaked samples is compared with results from a group of ambient condition, unsoaked samples. Results suggest that moisture absorption causes the matrix to expand and introduce microcracks or delamination between plies as the composite swells to accommodate the additional water, inversely affecting the material resistance to fracture.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 55%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Dynamic fracture behavior of hygrothermally degraded carbon epoxy composites

Pittman

Lamberson

2022

Journal of Composite Materials

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“…A large number of experimental studies have been devoted to the measurement of moisture intake and subsequent material degradation [4,5,[10][11][12][13][14]. Buehler and Seferis [4] found that water absorption led to a decrease in flexural modulus/strength and mode I/II interlaminar fracture toughness of glass fibre-reinforced plastics (GFRP).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hygroscopic phase field fracture modelling of composite materials

Au-Yeung

Quintanas-Corominas

Martínez‐Pañeda

et al. 2023

Engineering with Computers

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This paper investigates the effect of moisture content upon the degradation behaviour of composite materials. A coupled phase field framework considering moisture diffusion, hygroscopic expansion, and fracture behaviour is developed. This multi-physics framework is used to explore the damage evolution of composite materials, spanning the micro-, meso- and macro-scales. The micro-scale unit-cell model shows how the mismatch between the hygroscopic expansion of fibre and matrix leads to interface debonding. From the meso-scale ply-level model, we learn that the distribution of fibres has a minor influence on the material properties, while increasing moisture content facilitates interface debonding. The macro-scale laminate-level model shows that moisture induces a higher degree of damage on the longitudinal ply relative to the transverse ply. This work opens a new avenue to understand and predict environmentally assisted degradation in composite materials.

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