Indentation test to study the moisture absorption effect on CFRP composite

The effect of moisture absorption on mechanical properties of an autoclave cured CFRP (Carbon Fibre Rinforced Polymer) is investigated in this work. FIMEC (Flat-top Cylinder Indenter for Mechanical Characterization) indentation test was adopted to study reduction of the stiffness of CFRP plates for different ageing in water. In addition, short-beam shear test was performed with the aim to validate the reduction of the shear strength. The results show that indentation test is able to assess the stiffness reduction due to the aging in water; in addition, a good correlation between the results of indentation tests and short-beam shear tests was found.