Influence of woven ply degradation on fatigue crack growth in thin notched composites under tensile loading

Matthieu Bizeul (1) , Christophe Bouvet (1) , Jean-Jacques Barrau (1) , Rémy Cuenca (2)

1 ICA - Institut Clément Ader
2 Eurocopter France

This paper deals with the fatigue of the through the-thickness crack propagation in thin notched composite laminates made of two glass woven plies. It highlights the different crack growths between warp and weft directions of the woven ply. Experimental results show a decrease of the crack growth rate per cycle with the increase of the crack initiation time. Moreover, it has been shown that it is necessary to take into account the fatigue damage of the woven plies in term of loss of rigidity in the initiation phase. The fatigue crack growth rates are then quantified using Paris law type equations and linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM).

Mots clés: Woven fabric composite; Fatigue; Crack propagation; Linear elastic fracture mechanics

Domaines: Mécanique des structures [physics.class-ph]

Matthieu Bizeul, Christophe Bouvet, Jean-Jacques Barrau, Rémy Cuenca. Influence of woven ply degradation on fatigue crack growth in thin notched composites under tensile loading. International Journal of Fatigue, 2010, 32 (1), pp.60-65. ⟨10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2009.01.010⟩. ⟨hal-01852307⟩