Controllability of cryogenic Mode I delamination behavior in woven fabric composites using piezoelectric actuators

This paper investigates experimentally and numerically the delamination behavior in woven glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite laminates with surface-bonded piezoelectric ceramic actuators under Mode I loading at cryogenic temperatures. The piezoelectric actuators were used to control the delamination behavior in a composite double cantilever beam (DCB) specimen, and tests were performed at liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K). The finite element analysis of the DCB specimen with piezoelectric actuators was also carried out using temperature-dependent material properties of both the woven GFRP laminates and the piezoelectric ceramics, and the numerical predictions were compared with the experimental data. The dependence of the Mode I delamination behavior on the applied electric fields and the temperature was examined based on the experimental and numerical results, and the feasibility of piezoelectric control of cryogenic delamination behavior in composite laminates was demonstrated.

► We studied the controllability of the cryogenic Mode I delamination behavior.
► The piezoelectric actuators were used to control the delamination behavior.
► The piezoelectric control can be applicable to a cryogenic environment.
► The effectiveness of the piezoelectric control strongly depends on temperature.
► The piezoelectric control performance is affected by the actuator location.