Evaluation of energy of fatigue damage into GFRC through digital image correlation and thermography

Two different full-field techniques are here used to investigate the heat sources and dissipation sources that compare onto the surface of a composite laminate under fatigue load. The material here studied is a glass fibre reinforced epoxy laminate employed in the field of wind turbine. During fatigue tests, 8-bit (256 grey levels) images and thermal images were acquired and elaborated to relate the hysteresis area and the heat sources, finding the energy of damage in three points of specimens. The data shows a clear intensification of dissipative phenomena just in that region where final failure is then registered.