Citation:
D. Cartié, P. Davies, M. Peleau and I.K. Partridge, The influence of hydrostatic pressure on the interlaminar fracture toughness of carbon/epoxy composites, Composites Part B: Engineering, Volume 37, Issues 4-5, , June-July 2006, Pages 292-300
Abstract:
The use of composites for deep sea applications requires a thorough
understanding of the behaviour of these materials. While several studies have
examined the influence of pressure on in-plane properties few data are available
for the interlaminar fracture behaviour. This paper presents results from such
tests performed in a specially designed pressure vessel mounted on a standard
test machine, which allows pressures up to 1000 bars (100 MPa) to be applied
during mechanical testing. Mode I and Mode II tests have been performed on a
unidirectional IM7/977-2 carbon/epoxy composite. No effect of pressure was noted
on Mode I fracture toughness. A data reduction scheme has been developed for
Mode II loading and an increase in GIIC with increasing pressure was noted.
