Non-destructive assessment of the fatigue strength and damage progression of satin woven fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites

The aim of this study is to utilize infrared thermography to assess the critical damage states, and to capture the evolving damage processes, of 5HS and 8HS woven carbon fiber/epoxy composites subjected to uniaxial in-plane tensile quasi-static and fatigue loading. Quasi-static test results revealed that the dominant damage mechanisms were matrix cracks contained within the weft yarns, which initiated at the thermally-detected material thermoelastic limit and were confirmed through SEM observations. An established thermographic technique was also used to confirm the existence of a high cycle fatigue limit, which may in fact be a characteristic of all fabric reinforced polymeric composites. Temperature profiles captured during cyclic testing directly correlated with corresponding stiffness degradation profiles, providing support for thermography as an accurate fatigue damage metric. The infrared camera was able to detect the evolution of weft yarn cracking during the initial stage, as well as the initiation and growth of interply delamination cracking during the final stage of three-stage cyclic damage evolution. The reported results and observations provide an important step in the validation of thermography as a powerful non-destructive tool for assessing the development of damage, as well as predicting the critical damage states of fiber reinforced polymeric composite materials.