Co-authors​ :

 Pietro AGOSTINO (FRANCE), Yousuf IBNA , Andrejs KRAUKLIS (NORWAY), Sotirios GRAMMATIKOS (NORWAY) 

In this work, an experimental approach for the investigation of the durability of a composite material manufactured using Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), exposed to cryogenic environments is presented. This work aims to describe how cryogenic conditions influence the viscoelastic and mechanical properties of composite material coupons printed with two different filling percentages. Coupons are cryogenically conditioned via cyclic immersions in liquid nitrogen (LN2), at a temperature of -196 °C, and then left at room temperature (RT) for the same amount of time. Coupons performance was assessed after LN2 cyclic exposure at time intervals of 1 min, 1 h and 48 h, for a total of 5 and 20 cycles. In order to assess coupons performance after cyclic aging, coupons were viscoelasticly, mechanically and physico-chemically tested in terms of Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA), Thermal Mechanical Analysis (TMA), tension and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Moreover, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used for fractographic analysis of coupons after mechanical testing, while X-ray computed tomography scan (CT-scan) was employed for the monitoring of the evolution of internal damage caused due to cyclic thermal aging. A comparison of elastic modulus, tensile strength, glass transition temperature and coefficient of thermal expansion values has been conducted to assess the effect of different aging durations and cycles. CT scanning has been employed to study coupon’s behavior and evolution of internal structure characteristics, comparing coupons printed using different filling percentages.
The project H2ELIOS (HydrogEn Lightweight & Innovative tank for zerO-emisSion aircraft, 2023-2026, Ref: 101102003) is supported by the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking and its members. Funded by the European Union. However, views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.