The effect of pattern width on the properties and behavior of interfacially engineered composites with designed failure
Topic(s) : Material and Structural Behavior - Simulation & Testing
Co-authors :
Gergő Zsolt MARTON (HUNGARY), Gábor SZEBÉNYI (HUNGARY)Abstract :
Nowadays, polymer composites are gaining popularity, mainly due to their excellent specific mechanical properties. Besides everyday mass products, their applications include structural components as well. However, their further spread may be limited by their unfavorable failure process.
The failure of composites is a very complex process, which occurs mainly due to the interaction of different damage mechanisms - present in the raw materials or induced during manufacturing or in service - often at random locations and without any particular sign. To increase the reliability of composites and their broader use in safety-critical components, it is essential to make their failure processes more controllable and predictable. Modifying the interfacial adhesion provides an excellent solution for influencing the failure behavior of polymer composites and achieving pseudo-ductility. The application of polycaprolactone (PCL) thermoplastic interlayer material is a promising interface engineering technique as well. PCL can be solved in epoxy, thus, in the case of epoxy matrix composites, it does not create a new phase. The application of PCL interlayer material seems successful in increasing the ductility of polymer composite materials and modifying their failure behavior [1-3].
The aim of the present research is to develop and investigate a method that is suitable for controlling the failure of polymer composites in terms of the location and mode of failure.
Firstly, we manufactured UD carbon-fiber/epoxy composite plates containing a weakened adhesion zone by adding PCL as interlayer material, which enables the local modification of adhesion. The interlayer material was applied directly on the surface of the reinforcement material by fused filament fabrication (FFF) method. The manufactured composites differed in the width of the applied interlayer material. Composite plates were produced by vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM). Besides the interfacially engineered composites, reference samples containing no interlayer material were also manufactured.
We investigated the failure process of the composite samples under different loading conditions. First, we carried out Charpy impact tests and we evaluated the effect of the weakened adhesion zone and its geometry on the dynamic mechanical properties and the failure mode and position of the composites.
Furthermore, tensile tests were carried out, where the formation of damage and the failure process were investigated by digital image correlation (DIC) technique [4-5]. Based on the measured data, the influence of the local modification of interfacial adhesion and the geometry of the weakened adhesion zone on the tensile properties and the failure mode and position was evaluated.
The results show that the application of PCL interlayer material enables the design of the failure process of polymer composites, and it does not influence their mechanical properties significantly.
The failure of composites is a very complex process, which occurs mainly due to the interaction of different damage mechanisms - present in the raw materials or induced during manufacturing or in service - often at random locations and without any particular sign. To increase the reliability of composites and their broader use in safety-critical components, it is essential to make their failure processes more controllable and predictable. Modifying the interfacial adhesion provides an excellent solution for influencing the failure behavior of polymer composites and achieving pseudo-ductility. The application of polycaprolactone (PCL) thermoplastic interlayer material is a promising interface engineering technique as well. PCL can be solved in epoxy, thus, in the case of epoxy matrix composites, it does not create a new phase. The application of PCL interlayer material seems successful in increasing the ductility of polymer composite materials and modifying their failure behavior [1-3].
The aim of the present research is to develop and investigate a method that is suitable for controlling the failure of polymer composites in terms of the location and mode of failure.
Firstly, we manufactured UD carbon-fiber/epoxy composite plates containing a weakened adhesion zone by adding PCL as interlayer material, which enables the local modification of adhesion. The interlayer material was applied directly on the surface of the reinforcement material by fused filament fabrication (FFF) method. The manufactured composites differed in the width of the applied interlayer material. Composite plates were produced by vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM). Besides the interfacially engineered composites, reference samples containing no interlayer material were also manufactured.
We investigated the failure process of the composite samples under different loading conditions. First, we carried out Charpy impact tests and we evaluated the effect of the weakened adhesion zone and its geometry on the dynamic mechanical properties and the failure mode and position of the composites.
Furthermore, tensile tests were carried out, where the formation of damage and the failure process were investigated by digital image correlation (DIC) technique [4-5]. Based on the measured data, the influence of the local modification of interfacial adhesion and the geometry of the weakened adhesion zone on the tensile properties and the failure mode and position was evaluated.
The results show that the application of PCL interlayer material enables the design of the failure process of polymer composites, and it does not influence their mechanical properties significantly.