Fractography analysis and fatigue of thermoplastic composite laminates at different environmental conditions

This paper is concerned with the understanding of the relationship between fatigue resistance and environmental conditioning by the fractographic analysis of the fracture surfaces. It assesses the fracture mode of fatigue tested laminates, carried out at different temperatures: −55 °C, +20 °C and +80 °C, and under two moisture contents, dry and 75% of saturated condition. It is verified that temperature is the most detrimental factor in environmental conditioning for fatigue. The influence of the moisture content in the fatigue life of the composite depends on the temperature.