Influence of Voids on the Tensile Performance of Carbon/epoxy Fabric Laminates

This paper aims at investigating the effect of voids on the tensile properties of [(±45)4/(0,90)/(±45)2]s and [(±45)/04/(±45)(0,90)]s composites. Specimens with void contents in the range of 0.4% to 9.0% were fabricated from carbon/epoxy fabric. The void content was determined by ultrasonic attenuation and optical image analysis, and microscopic inspection was also used to analyze the shape and size of the voids. The influence of voids on the tensile strength and modulus of both stacking sequence is compared in terms of the size and the shape of the voids. The effect of voids on the initiation and propagation of tensile failure of both stacking sequence composite was investigated.