Tension Fatigue of Glass/Epoxy and Graphite/Epoxy Tapered Laminates

Symmetric tapered laminates with internally dropped plies were tested with two different layups and two materials, S2/SP250 glass/epoxy and IM6/18271 graphite/epoxy. The specimens were loaded in cyclic tension until they delaminated unstably. Each combination of material and layup had a unique failure mode. Calculated values of strain energy release rate, G, from a finite element analysis model of delamination along the taper, and for delamination from a matrix ply crack, were used with mode I fatigue characterization data from tests of the tested materials to calculate expected delamination onset loads. Calculated values were compared to the experimental results. The comparison showed that when the calculated G was chosen according to the observed delamination failures, the agreement between the calculated and measured delamination onset loads was reasonable for each combination of layup and material.

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