Fatigue and Impact Behaviour of Carbon Fibre Composite Bicycle Forks

The use of carbon fibre-based polymeric composites in bicycle components has dramatically increased in the last few decades. This paper presents the results of fatigue and impact testing on bicycle forks that are known to have quality-related manufacturing defects. In the investigation performed, acoustic emission testing is used to monitor crack growth during fatigue loading and impact. The results show three distinct stages in composite fatigue failure related to initiation, propagation and final growth. Implications of the results on design and testing of composite bicycle components are addressed pointing to a greater need in understanding current design procedures.

[1]  A. D’Amore,et al.  Fatigue Life of Graphite/Epoxy Laminates Subjected to Tension-Compression Loadings , 2000 .

[2]  Derek R. Petersen,et al.  Gaussian function characterization of unnotched tension behavior in a carbon/epoxy composite containing localized fiber waviness , 2011 .

[3]  Pascal Reynaud,et al.  Acoustic emission and lifetime prediction during static fatigue tests on ceramic-matrix-composite at high temperature under air , 2010 .

[4]  Isaac M Daniel,et al.  Elastic properties of composites with fiber waviness , 1996 .

[5]  C. Roy,et al.  Monitoring progression of mode II delamination during fatigue loading through acoustic emission in laminated glass fiber composite , 1988 .

[6]  Michael R. Hill,et al.  A single loading direction for fatigue life prediction and testing of handlebars for off-road bicycles , 2002 .

[7]  H. Biermann,et al.  Fatigue damage evolution in a particulate-reinforced metal matrix composite determined by acoustic emassion and compliance method , 2002 .

[8]  Nobuo Takeda,et al.  Initiation and growth of delamination from the tips of transverse cracks in CFRP cross-ply laminates , 1994 .

[9]  Nobuo Takeda,et al.  In situ observation and probabilistic prediction of microscopic failure processes in CFRP cross-ply laminates , 1994 .

[10]  Yuris A. Dzenis,et al.  On the Possibility of Discrimination of Mixed Mode Fatigue Fracture Mechanisms in Adhesive Composite Joints by Advanced Acoustic Emission Analysis , 2002 .

[11]  Jonathan Awerbuch,et al.  Monitoring Progression of Matrix Splitting During Fatigue Loading Through Acoustic Emission in Notched Unidirectional Graphite/Epoxy Composite , 1988 .

[12]  T. Liu,et al.  Fiber direction and stacking sequence design for bicycle frame made of carbon/epoxy composite laminate , 2010 .