Quantitative evaluation of fatigue damage growth in CFRP laminates that changes due to applied stress level

The change of fatigue damage behavior depending on an applied stress level in carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates was evaluated quantitatively in this study. To evaluate damage growth, the energies released due to transverse crack propagation and delamination growth per unit length with consideration of transverse crack propagation were derived. Moreover, the transverse crack propagation and the delamination growth were evaluated using a modified Paris law that gives the relationship between the damage growth rate and the energy released due to damage growth. As a result, it was found that the growth of the transverse crack and the delamination could be evaluated with the unique Paris law constants, respectively. Finally, it was concluded that the change of the fatigue damage growth behavior was caused due to the difference of the growth rate of the transverse cracks and delamination at an applied stress level.