Using thin-plies to improve the damage resistance and tolerance of aeronautical CFRP composites

Thin-ply composites are currently receiving specific attention from researchers due to their capabilities to delay matrix cracking. In this paper, the aim is to design a hybrid laminate that contains both thin- and normal plies. The objective is to improve the tolerance of normal plies by adding thin-plies to the composite in different configurations. Two alternatives were designed, tested, and compared to the specimens made of traditional plies. Impact and compression after impact tests were conducted on each configuration at different impact energies. After being impacted, the specimens were c-scanned to define the delamination pattern. Results showed that surrounding each normal ply with two thin-plies improved the delamination threshold by 15% as compared to the specimens made all of normal plies. Under compression, 15% improvements in the compression after impact strength were obtained. By using thin-plies, the size of each individual delamination was reduced, resulting in small threads instead of peanut delaminations.