Morphology-induced fatigue crack arresting in carbon fibre sheet moulding compounds
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Carbon Fibre Sheet Moulding Compounds (CF-SMCs) are tow-based composite materials. Interrupted fatigue tests, combined with computed tomography, were performed here to investigate the damage mechanisms in high in-mould flow CF-SMC. The tow-based microstructure created obstacles for fatigue damage propagation, increasing the CF-SMC’s resistance against cyclic loading. Failure is shown to nucleate inside the tows, but inter-tow crack propagation tends to be hindered by the presence of the other tows. Tows oriented perpendicularly to the initial fatigue crack stop the crack itself, showing an intrinsic crack arrest mechanism. Additionally, pre-existing manufacturing cracks or voids do not propagate at all. As a result, flatter slopes of the SN diagrams were observed for CF-SMC than for other carbon or glass fibre composites with short, long and even continuous fibres.
Date Issued
2020-05
Date Acceptance
2020-01-21
Citation
International Journal of Fatigue, 2020, 134, pp.1-10
ISSN
0142-1123
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Start Page
1
End Page
10
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Fatigue
Volume
134
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Sponsor
Royal Academy of Engineering
European Commission
Identifier
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142112320300414?via%3Dihub
Grant Number
RF/133
Subjects
Mechanical Engineering & Transports
0905 Civil Engineering
0913 Mechanical Engineering
Publication Status
Published online
Article Number
105510
Date Publish Online
2020-01-23