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Moisture Absorption Effects on the Resistance to Interlaminar Fracture of Woven Glass/Epoxy Composite Laminates

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Damage and Fracture of Composite Materials and Structures

Part of the book series: Advanced Structured Materials ((STRUCTMAT,volume 17))

Abstract

The influence of moisture absorption on the interlaminar fracture behaviour of 8/8 harness satin weave glass/epoxy composite was investigated. Two series of specimens with 0°/0° and 90°/90° predominant interfaces immersed in water for different duration were tested under double cantilever beam (DCB mode I), single leg bending (SLB mode I + II) and end notched flexural (ENF mode II) loadings. In general, the apparent flexural modulus: E, and the fracture toughness: G C, decrease with increasing moisture content. This effect is more remarkable if mode II participation is bigger. The value of G C measured on 90°/90° specimens reveals higher than that on 0°/0° ones, but the variation in G C is inversed under ENF loading. The experimental results have been correlated with a criterion previously proposed by the first author expressed by: \( G_{TC} = G_{IC} + (G_{IIC} - G_{IC} )\left( {\frac{{G_{II} }}{{G_{I} + G_{II} }}} \right)^{m}.\) A good agreement is shown with m = 2/3 at all moisture contents and interfaces. Regarding the R-curves under DCB loading, water absorption leads to a higher rate of increment in the resistance in the early crack growth. However, the maximum of the resistance to the crack growth decreases with the moisture content.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Recherche en Ingénierie des Véhicules pour l’Environnement, Université de Bourgogne, 58000, Nevers, France

    X. J. Gong & K. J. Wong

  2. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Centre for Composites, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM Skudai, 81310, Johor, Malaysia

    K. J. Wong & M. N. Tamin

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  1. X. J. Gong
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  3. M. N. Tamin
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Correspondence to X. J. Gong .

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  1. , Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM Skudai, Johor, 81310, Malaysia

    Mohd Nasir Tamin

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Gong, X.J., Wong, K.J., Tamin, M.N. (2012). Moisture Absorption Effects on the Resistance to Interlaminar Fracture of Woven Glass/Epoxy Composite Laminates. In: Tamin, M. (eds) Damage and Fracture of Composite Materials and Structures. Advanced Structured Materials, vol 17. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23659-4_8

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