In-Situ Imaging of Flexure-Induced Fracture in Fiber-Reinforced Composites Using High-Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography

Abstract

This work presents a new test method which allows for in situ high-resolution X-ray computed tomographic imaging of flexure-induced fracture in tape-laminate composites. Specimens with two distinct stacking sequences were tested to visualize, in 3D, the evolution of intralaminar ply cracks and delaminations as a function of the applied bending moments. The first laminate, which had small angle changes between adjacent plies, produced a fracture pattern that consisted solely of intralaminar cracks. The second laminate, having a more traditional quasi-isotropic stacking sequence, evolved a fracture surface that contained interacting intralaminar cracks and delaminations. The vastly different fracture surfaces obtained from both laminates provide invaluable, and previously unobtainable, 3D information for validation of existing and future progressive damage models.