Study of the response of CFRP composite laminates to a laser-induced shock

Laser-induced shock yields to a local tensile stress within a sample. This high strain rate stress can be used to verify the bond strength between two layers. This method has been applied to Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composite laminates, involved in aeronautic or defense industry. Experiments have been carried out on high power laser facility in the nanosecond regime. A velocimetry interferometer has been used to record the material velocity at the back surface of the samples. This study provides a comprehensive approach of the response of CFRP laminates of different thicknesses to a shock load normal to the fibres direction. The stress waves generation and propagation within the laminate and the induced delamination are key issues of this work. The main result is the ability of the technique to evaluate the out-of-plane strength of these laminate

Shock adhesion test for composite bonded assembly using a high pulsed power generator

In a context of the rising use of composite assemblies in aeronautic or defense fields, the assessment of their strength is a key issue. The method developed in this study attempts to provide solutions. A shock adhesion test based on short compressive loads, obtained by a high pulsed power generator, is proposed as a proof test to ensure the quality of composite bonded assemblies. A calibrated load induces a local tensile stress able to damage the bond interface. The high pulsed power source is the GEnerateur de Pression Isentropique device (Isentropic Pressure Generator), used to generate the required stresses, with a 450 ns pulse duration to test assemblies above the mm thickness range. The understanding of the mechanisms of wave propagation and tensile stress generation within these multilayer assemblies are scientific challenges. The ability of the technique to induce a tensile stress able to disbond the laminates and the assemblies is demonstrated. This paper details the response of carbon epoxy laminates and their bonded assemblies to a shock loading near the damage threshold

Penetration and cratering experiments of graphite by 0.5-mm diameter steel spheres at various impact velocities

Cratering experiments have been conducted with 0.5-mm diameter AISI 52100 steel spherical projectiles and 30-mm diameter, 15-mm long graphite targets. The latter were made of a commercial grade of polycrystalline and porous graphite named EDM3 whose behavior is known as macroscopically isotropic. A two-stage light-gas gun launched the steel projectiles at velocities between 1.1 and 4.5 km s 1. In most cases, post-mortem tomographies revealed that the projectile was trapped, fragmented or not, inside the target. It showed that the apparent crater size and depth increase with the impact velocity. This is also the case of the crater volume which appears to follow a power law significantly different from those constructed in previous works for similar impact conditions and materials. Meanwhile, the projectile depth of penetration starts to decrease at velocities beyond 2.2 km s 1. This is firstly because of its plastic deformation and then, beyond 3.2 km s 1, because of its fragmentation. In addition to these three regimes of penetration behavior already described by a few authors, we suggest a fourth regime in which the projectile melting plays a significant role at velocities above 4.1 km s 1. A discussion of these four regimes is provided and indicates that each phenomenon may account for the local evolution of the depth of penetration

Development of a laser shock adhesion test for the assessment of weak adhesive bonded CFRP structures

Adhesive bondin,g bas a great poœnlial far future ligbtweight bigb-loaded structures in the a.eronautic industiy. A preœquisite for sucb an application is dtat the bond quality of the adhesive joint can be assessed in a non-destructive way. However, the use of da.ssicaJ Non•DesiiUctive Techniques (NDT) does not aUow the evaluation of the adhesion stren,gt:h of an adhesive bond yet This paper pn!sents an investigation made on weak composite bonds in on!er to develop a laser shock wave adhesion test First, the procedure to produce controlled weak bonds is desaibed. CFRP bonded samples are pn!pared in a spedfic way and characterized by ultrasonic techniques to assess the absence of any detectable defect. 1ben, for sorne of the .samples, their bond streDgth is evaluated by mechanical destructive œsts and ether .samples are loaded by v.arious intensity lasers shocks. The obtained results help to understand the behavior of the composite bonds under Jaser shock loading:. thanks to two post-mortem techrùques. 1becorrelation between the laser parameterS and the induced damage is demon.strated, The potential of the laser shock. technique to dl.saiminate different bond quallties is shawn, and the need for the œst optinùzationlsdÛ(

Laser shock adhesion test numerical optimization for composite bonding assessment

The present work presents the latest development of laser shock adhesion test (LASAT) technology, targeting the weak bond detection in bonded aeronautic structures. This problematic is still holding back a wider use of bonding, which could however be a significant breakthrough in the way of assembling parts. By mechanically loading the bondline thanks to laser-induced shock waves, LASAT acts as proof test to reveal the presence of local weaknesses. In the present paper, focus is made on the optimization of the laser shock parameters regarding the assembly to test. Objective is to avoid loading too much the composite, thus avoiding damage, to increase the test performances. Numerical modelling is used, following a specific methodology, to understand the phenomena and identify the key parameters. The basic laser shock configuration was first investigated. Due to the stress distribution, this setting allows one to test a bond whose strength is equal or below 40% of composite inter-laminar strength. The effects of the laser focal spot on the stress distribution are also quantified. A 4 mm diameter shows good performances for the assembly to test. For the first time, three different optimizations are proposed: tunable pulse duration, double pulses on the front face and symmetrical laser shocks. They are first theoretically described. Numerical results then support these configurations’ performances. The double pulse solution makes it possible to test a bond strength equal or inferior to 80% of composite inter-laminar strength, when symmetrical pulses enable to reach 100% thanks to a sharp stress distribution. These results are validated by experimental evidence that is also presented. Finally, the present work offers helpful information for the development and deployment of LASAT for aeronautic bonded structures

Observation of the shock wave propagation induced by a high-power laser irradiation into an epoxy material

The propagation of laser-induced shock waves in a transparent epoxy sample is investigated by optical shadowgraphy. The shock waves are generated by a focused laser (3 ns pulse duration—1.2 to 3.4TWcm−2) producing pressure from 44 to 98.9 GPa. It is observed that the shock wave and the release wave created by the shock reverberation at the rear face are both followed by a dark zone in the pictures. This corresponds to the creation of a tensile zone resulting from the crossing on the loading axis of the release waves coming from the edge of the impact area (2D effects). After the laser shock experiment, the residual stresses in the targets are identified and quantified through a photoelasticimetry analysis of the recovered samples. This work results in a new set of original data which can be directly used to validate numerical models implemented to reproduce the behaviour of epoxy under extreme strain rate loading. The residual stresses observed prove that the high-pressure shocks can modify the pure epoxy properties, which could have an influence on the use made of these materials

A study of composite material damage induced by laser shock waves

A laser shock wave technique has been used to study the damage tolerance of T800/M21 CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) composite material with different lay_ups. Different levels of damage have been created according to various laser irradiation conditions. Several characterization methods such as Optical Microscopy, X-ray Radiography, or Interferometric Confocal Microscopy have been used to quantify these defects. The nature of the defects induced by the shock wave propagation has been studied. The sensitivity of the composite material damage to the shock conditions has been shown and quantified. Moreover, the experimental results gathered with each technique have been compared to each other and it leads to a better understanding of the CFRP behavior under high dynamic loading. These original results have enabled the definition of a specific damage criterion for CFRP under dynamic loading

Dynamic cratering of graphite : experimental results and simulations

The cratering process in brittle materials under hypervelocity impact (HVI) is of major relevance for debris shielding in spacecraft or high-power laser applications. Amongst other materials, carbon is of particular interest since it is widely used as elementary component in composite materials. In this paper we study a porous polycrystalline graphite under HVI and laser impact, both leading to strong debris ejection and cratering. First, we report new experimental data for normal impacts at 4100 and 4200 m s-1 of a 500-μm-diameter steel sphere on a thick sample of graphite. In a second step, dynamic loadings have been performed with a high-power nanosecond laser facility. High-resolution X-ray tomographies and observations with a scanning electron microscope have been performed in order to visualize the crater shape and the subsurface cracks. These two post-mortem diagnostics also provide evidence that, in the case of HVI tests, the fragmented steel sphere was buried into the graphite target below the crater surface. The current study aims to propose an interpretation of the results, including projectile trapping. In spite of their efficiency to capture overall trends in crater size and shape, semi-empirical scaling laws do not usually predict these phenomena. Hence, to offer better insight into the processes leading to this observation, the need for a computational damage model is argued. After discussing energy partitioning in order to identify the dominant physical mechanisms occurring in our experiments, we propose a simple damage model for porous and brittle materials. Compaction and fracture phenomena are included in the model. A failure criterion relying on Weibull theory is used to relate material tensile strength to deformation rate and damage. These constitutive relations have been implemented in an Eulerian hydrocode in order to compute numerical simulations and confront them with experiments. In this paper, we propose a simple fitting procedure of the unknown Weibull parameters based on HVI results. Good agreement is found with experimental observations of crater shapes and dimensions, as well as debris velocity. The projectile inclusion below the crater is also reproduced by the model and a mechanism is proposed for the trapping process. At least two sets of Weibull parameters can be used to match the results. Finally, we show that laser experiment simulations may discriminate in favor of one set of parameters