Multi-instrument multi-scale experimental damage mechanics for fibre reinforced composites

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. Reliable investigation of damage in fibre reinforced composites requires concurrent in- and ex-situ application of multiple instruments at different scale: digital image correlation, acoustic emission registration, optical/electron microscopy, C-scan, X-ray imaging and micro-computed tomography. The multi-instrument experimental mechanics allows detailed damage monitoring and inspection

Combination of Digital Image Correlation and Acoustic Emission for Damage Assessment of V-Shape Carbon/Epoxy Sub-Components

In the automotive sector, lightweight carbon/epoxy composites have shown their benefits compared to traditional metals, and they are used in several parts of vehicles, such as frames and chassis. In such sub-components, different cross-section geometries are utilized and the materials can be subjected to various loading combinations. Determining the precise damage development is of great importance to obtain improved designs, avoiding overdesigned parts and early failure. To that end, V-shape carbon/epoxy specimens have been experimentally characterized under both quasi-static and fatigue tensile loads. The potential of Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and Acoustic Emission (AE) for damage assessment is explored

Digital image correlation assisted characterization of Mode I fatigue delamination in composites

status: publishe

Digital Image Correlation Measurements of Mode I Fatigue Delamination in Laminated Composites

A Digital Image Correlation (DIC) based method is proposed to characterize Mode I fatigue delamination onset and propagation in laminated composites. With the help of DIC, the displacement field around a delamination crack is obtained and further processed to determine the position of the crack tip. With this method the delamination length can be measured automatically in each cycle with a precision on the order of few hundreds of micrometers. The fatigue delamination onset life is then determined by detecting the increase of the delamination length, and the fatigue delamination propagation rate is calculated. The proposed method produces more conservative fatigue life measurements in comparison with the compliance increase method in ASTM D6115