Report of Fatigue and Fracture of

Structure

Submitted By:

Ramzi Thabit Yahya Hussein ID: 2020180038

PROFESSOR:
Xue Hong Chang

SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

NORTHWESTERN
POLYTECHNICALUNIVERSITY
XI’AN, CHINA

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 3
2. Literature review ...................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 Overview on Composite Materials .................................................................................................. 3
2.2 Advantages of composite materials ................................................................................................. 4
2.3 Applications of composite materials................................................................................................ 4
2.4 Fiber orientations ............................................................................................................................. 4
2.5 Problems .......................................................................................................................................... 5
3. Fatigue in Composite Materials ........................................................................................... 5
3.1 Delamination in composite material ................................................................................................ 5
3.2 How the Delamination propagates ................................................................................................... 6
3.3 Strong and Weak points of CFRP Composite.................................................................................. 6
4. Increasing of fracture toughness .......................................................................................... 7
4.1 Thickness Reinforcement Techniques such as: ............................................................................... 7
5. Fracture of Composite Material ........................................................................................... 7
5.1 Type of Fracture in Composite Materials ........................................................................................ 8
5.2 Modes of Fracture ............................................................................................................................ 8
5.3 Mechanism of Fracture .................................................................................................................... 9
5.4 Mechanism of Failure in composite................................................................................................. 9
6. Crack of Composite Material ............................................................................................. 10
6.1 Steps of crack ................................................................................................................................. 10
6.2 Steps of damaging.......................................................................................................................... 11
7. GI calculation with beam theory (BT) ............................................................................... 11
8. Paris plot ............................................................................................................................... 12
9. Fatigue Test .......................................................................................................................... 13
9.1 Experimental Set-up ...................................................................................................................... 13
9.2 Samples .......................................................................................................................................... 13
9.3 Fatigue test analysis ....................................................................................................................... 14
9.3.1 Crack propagation rate ....................................................................................................... 14
9.3.2 Load analysis under fatigue test ......................................................................................... 15
10. Summary .............................................................................................................................. 16
11. References............................................................................................................................. 16

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 FATIGUE BEHAVIOUR OF COMPOSIT

1. Introduction
 Composite materials nowadays has replaced the traditional metal in many sectors therefore it is
important to study this materials under fatigue life in order to know the usage ability that can
avoid expected problems
 The aim of this presentation is to determine the problems under life cycle loading
 Improving the stiffness of CFRP composite against fatigue which will be reflected in increasing
the life usage of this material
 Analyzing the fatigue test which will illustrate the behavior of crack propagation on composite
materials

2. Literature review
2.1 Overview on Composite Materials
 Composite can be defined as a combination of two materials, usually a fiber and a matrix or resin,
with the purpose of getting the beneficial properties of both materials.
 Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) is a one kind of composite materials due its excellent
properties nowadays is used in many sectors mostly in aerospace, automotive, civil engineering,
and sports goods
 CFRP is manly about carbon fiber inside the matrix, which characterized by a high strength-to-
weight ratio and rigidity.

Figure 2.1 Scheme of a composite material

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 2.2 Advantages of composite materials
 Composites can have higher strength and bigger specific modulus of other common engineering
materials. This helps to reduce weight and increase fuel efficiency in the aerospace and automotive
industries.
 The mechanical properties of composite parts can also be tailored for specific applications by
controlling the orientation of the fiber reinforcement or type of fiber used.
 Composite materials can be molded to virtually any shape.

2.3 Applications of composite materials

 The civil aerospace industry has been the key market for composites over the last number of
decades.
 Rising fuel costs, environmental regulations and an increase in airline traffic have helped drive the
increasing use of composite materials in the aerospace industry.
 Composites are used in military, business and commercial aircraft of all sizes, including spacecraft.

Figure 2.2 On the left (a) Boeing 737, in the middle (b) UAV drone, on the right (c) UCAV
2.4 Fiber orientations
 The fiber orientation play important role in increasing the stiffness against the fatigue under cycle
loading
 A unidirectional fiber orientation prepreg ply (shown in Fig. a) has maximum stiffness and strength
along the fiber direction and minimum properties in a direction perpendicular to fibers.
 bidirectional fiber orientations prepreg ply (woven-ply, shown in Fig. b) almost has maximum
stiffness and strength along every direction
 A fiber reinforced polymer composite laminate is usually made by bonding many prepreg plies
together to obtain excellent properties
(c)

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 Figure. 2.3 (a) unidirectional fiber orientation ply, (b) Bidirectional fiber orientations ply
(woven-ply), (c) unidirectional-plies FRP composite laminate

2.5 Problems
 Delamination is the major problem that can cause fatigue to the composite materials
 Reducing the delamination by some techniques will be reflected in increase the weak points of
composites and also enhancing the low fracture toughness.
 How the delamination propagate in CFRP
 The crack behavior in the CFRP composite samples under fatigue tests

3. Fatigue in Composite Materials

Fatigue is the weakening of a material caused by cyclic loading that results in progressive and
localized structural damage and the growth of cracks
 Usually, with the progress of cyclic load, many damages such as intra-ply delamination
(delamination within plies), inter-ply delamination (delamination between plies), matrix cracks,
fiber breakage, and interface deboning may appear, which can lead degradation in the mechanical
properties of composites such as tension/compression strength.

Figure: 3.1 Delamination damage such as Intra-ply delamination and Inter-ply delamination

3.1 Delamination in composite material

 As delamination, due to poor fracture toughness, is one of the biggest causes of failure especially
under cyclic load, new research works are investigating a solution to this problem. One of the
possibilities is to insert a second material layer inside the composite to increase the crack
propagation energy.

 Delamination are cracks at the interface between plies with different orientation and may
significantly reduce stiffness and strength of the material, often contributing to the failure of the
component

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 3.2 How the Delamination propagates
 Under mixed mode or mode II loading, resolved stress and consequently the crack front, was
oriented out of the laminate; so delamination propagated out of the defect plane and migrated
upward.

 In the specific case that the delamination path migrated towards a ply, in which the fibers were
aligned with the normal to the delamination front, the delamination remained within the defect
plane as shown in Figure (b).

 Conversely, if the ply orientation was not aligned with the normal to delamination front, ply
splitting developed, and consequently the delamination migrated into the next ply interface Figure
(c).

Figure: 3.2 stress state at the tip of delamination under mixed-mode loading (a), delamination
mechanisms at the interface (b), (c).

3.3 Strong and Weak points of CFRP Composite

Strong points

 These composite materials are selected and used for their properties like low weight, high
strength, corrosion resistance and high stiffness.

Weak points

 poor out-of-plane impact resistance,

 low fracture toughness
 Poor delamination resistance.
 They are susceptible in particular to impact damage from out of plane impacts which generate
delamination.

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4. Increasing of fracture toughness
 The epoxy resins have good temperature resistance and low creep properties, but they are brittle,
so it often causes the crack initiation and propagation in the resin-rich interlinear region, producing
a component with low fracture toughness
 To enhance fracture toughness, several techniques have been researched and developed
 In particular working on the structure of the matrix to decrease the brittleness using rubber
 Thermoplastic particle inside epoxies,
 Addiction of nanoparticles helps to increase the ductility of the matrix

4.1 Thickness Reinforcement Techniques such as:

3D weaving, stitching and braiding
 This technique, studied by Dexter and Funk,
 Z-pinning is a technique to insert reinforcing fibers along the Z-direction of continuous fiber-
reinforced plastics as you see in the figure
This technique has produced a significant increases in delamination resistance and impact damage
tolerance

Figure: 4.1 Z-pin structure

5. Fracture of Composite Material

 Composites have high mechanical performances and good fatigue durability so they offer definite
advantages compared to more traditional materials. However, mechanisms involved when they are
tested due to anisotropy, heterogeneity and defects have to be considered.

 The main factors that could cause fatigue fractures of composite part or structure are below:

 Environment: temperature, contact with chemicals, humidity (influence on mechanical properties

mainly at low number of cycles)
 Inadequate or faulty design: over-estimation of the strength of the material, under-estimation of
actual stress.
 Type of stress: especially compression and shear,

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 Presence of manufacturing defects.
To understand the cause of failure, it is essential to identify and quantify all of these influential
factors and assess their interactions.

5.1 Type of Fracture in Composite Materials

 There are three main types of fracture which are ductile fracture, brittle fracture and stick-slip
fracture.
 Ductile fracture is represented on the load-displacement curve by a large increase in displacement
with a small drop off in load, see figure (a).
 Brittle fracture is represented on the load-displacement curve by a small amount of displacement
relative Load large sudden drop off in load, see figure (b).
 Stick-slip fracture is represented on the load-displacement curve by a saw tooth appearance,
represented by figure (c)

Figure: 5.1 Examples of load-displacement curves for different fracture type

5.2 Modes of Fracture

 There are three pure modes of loading, which are shown
Mode I - Opening
Mode II - In-Plane Shear
Mode III - Out-of-Plane Shear

Figure: 5.2 Three pure modes of loading

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5.3 Mechanism of Fracture
Distribution of fibers in the epoxy resin could influence the behavior of the material
 The fibers enhanced stiffness and strain-to-failure but the presence of tightly packed bundles (Q-
UD) increase the failure strain because it delays the necking that is the cause of failure.
 By causing the crack to initially grow in the resin rich region around the bundles, fiber deboning
and necking is postponed. Additionally, for closely bundled fibers, once necking begins, the stress
field experienced by the neighboring fibers is positively affected, increasing the measured strength
of the overall composite.

Figure: 5.3 Mechanism of fracture

5.4 Mechanism of Failure in composite

 The mechanism of failure is proposed was first a deboning between fiber and matrix, strain
magnification and then necking at local weak point
 However, an optimal level of adhesion must be found as excessive levels can result in the
localization and magnification of strain, causing premature failure of the fibers

Figure: 5.4 proposed failure mechanism of ductile fibers in a brittle matrix

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 6. Crack of Composite Material
In compression, cyclic loadings generate important crack with a decrease of 30% in fatigue strength
for composite in comparison with metal. In the composite, more than 50% of crack occurs in the first
20% of life which means that a structure or a component can live in its environment with the presence
of cracks. In metal, crack initiation (damage) occurs generally after more than 75% of fatigue life.

Figure: 6.1 Comparison between composites and metals fatigue behavior

6.1 Steps of crack

The crack process depends on the type and direction of the reinforcement and the mechanical stresses
applied. However, the crack process happens in two stages: the first crack occurring requires low energy
consumption (interface or matrix failure), while the second stage (fiber breakage) require more
significant energy level.
 The first step of crack begins in zones of lower strength such as the matrix fiber interfaces
(interlaminar cracks )
 The second are called intralaminar cracks. Which the damages mainly appear in the areas where
fibers are not oriented in the axis of the load, so the strain in the matrix reaches its breaking strain

Figure: 6.2 (a) (left) penetrant inspection showing a large density of interlaminar crack, (b) (right)
delamination during tensile test due to the differences of stiffness

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 Finally, when the volume ratio of the matrix damage reaches a certain level, the final stage of
damage corresponds to the failure of the fibers, called translaminar failure. This type of damage is
mainly involved in the final stages of ruin in areas where fiber orientation more or less coincides
with the axis of stress

Figure: 6.3 Modes of failure

6.2 Steps of damaging

 Under cyclic tensile stress, fibers in particular with different orientations sometimes break in a
single plan and show smooth and flat individual facture. This feature is never observed in case of
static loading. As shows below the steps of fatigue fibers breakage

Figure: 6.4 Steps of fatigue initiation

7. GI calculation with beam theory (BT)

The double cantilever beam (DCB) test is used to determine the pure mode I fracture toughness of
composites or adhesive joint systems. The DCB specimen is centrally cracked (i.e. h1 = h2=h). The
loading is symmetrical such that the momentum applied is M = Pa.

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 Figure: 7.1 I illustration of a DCB test
This Mode I illustrates the delamination fatigue crack growth in unidirectional fiber reinforced
composites

8. Paris plot
A Paris plot is a log-log sigmoidal curve that describes three regions of fatigue crack growth. It reports
the crack growth rate, da/dN, on y axis and the maximum level of energy for the propagation of the
crack at a certain number of cycles, on x axis

 Region I: region of crack arrest which is defined by the crack growth rate threshold (Gth) that
happens at very low crack growth rates.
 Region II: linear growth in the logarithmic scale described by Paris law
 Region III: fast or unstable crack growth region defined by the fracture toughness (Gc). Cracks
may nucleate quite early in the fatigue life of a material, however it is relatively more difficult at
stress levels near the fatigue limit

Figure: 8.1Example of Paris plot

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9. Fatigue Test
The delamination fracture toughness test was carried out on 3 DCB specimens per each type of
material

 Fatigue mode-I testing was conducted on the Instron-8502 250kN servo-hydraulic materials
testing machine.
 Loading is applied by servo-hydraulic pumps that are capable of achieving relatively high
frequencies which are needed to support fatigue testing.
 This system operates by attaching a load cell to the upper grip and keeping its position fixed, and
the motion of the lower grip is controlled.
 This system uses approximately 50kW of power regardless of the test being conducted.

9.1 Experimental Set-up

 A 10kN load cell was used to record the applied load. The specimens were held in place using
load shackles and loading pins as shown bellow

Figure 9.1 (a) DCB test, (b) DCB machine and clamps
 From the test it is possible to obtain, the crack growth rate da/dN and it lets the comparison between
different samples.

9.2 Samples
 In total there were 15 samples and each of them was tested once. table below summaries
the composites used in the test and their abbreviations

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 Table 9.1 Material samples and abbreviations

9.3 Fatigue test analysis

9.3.1 Crack propagation rate
As shown in the following figures, it is possible to see a higher growth speed in the first numbers of cycle;
after the crack reaches a threshold so it is no more growing increasing the number of cycles. The following
pictures show the crack growth during the fatigue test in controls considering all 3 samples (Figure 9.1) and
in Figure 9.2 one sample per amount and disposition of steel fibers inside CFRPs material is plotted.

Figure: 9.2 Control crack rate figure: 9.2 Crack rate propagation in different samples

In all curves it is possible to find 3 stages: the initiation of the crack where there is the fastest
growth, then the second stage is the propagation where the crack growth rate decreases and the last
stage is the crack growth stops because the load is too low to let the crack growing.

Comparing different specimens it is possible to see that in controls the crack length, with an average
value of about 7mm, is generally lower than in the samples with steel fibres, where the mean measured
crack goes from 10,5 to 14 mm, as shown in figure 9.3. This figure shows the average crack growth based

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on three samples for all types of specimens. Values in the graph are obtained subtracting from the final
crack length measured the precrack.

Figure; 9.3 average of crack growth during fatigue test

Moreover, comparing samples with longitudinal and transversal fibers it is possible to notice that the crack
grows generally more when fibers are disposed longitudinally in CFRP.

9.3.2 Load analysis under fatigue test

The load during fatigue tests should decrease constantly with passage of time (i.e. number of cycles). But,
as shown in Figure 9.4 below, the load has a decreasing trend only in controls while in other samples it is
first decreasing and then it is increasing. This phenomenon could be associated to a mechanism of toughness
of the material because it is mostly noticed in samples with steel fibers. It could also be associated to a bad
sensitivity of the machine or to a bad alignment of grips during the set-up of the machine.

Figure 9.4 Lod trend for some samples (sample number 2 for each type)

It is possible to notice that the control load trend is more in agreement with that in the standards
because, ignoring some oscillations, the curve is generally decreasing. In samples with steel fibers is
possible to see a rise starting generally after 10000 cycles to the end of curves maybe associated

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to the bridging effect of the fibers inside the CFRP. This idea is also supported by some pictures
taken during fatigue tests Figure 9.5.

Figure: 9.5 Fibers bridging on the longitudinal sample (left) and transversal sample (right)

10. Summary
 Introduction of composite material
 Delamination is regarded as the major problem that can cause fatigue to composite materials,
 The delamination path migrated towards a ply, in which the fibers were aligned with the normal to
the delamination front, while migrated into the next ply when the fibers were not aligned with the
normal to the delamination front.
 Mode I determines the delamination fatigue characteristics of a variety of CFRPs specimens to
study the possibility of increasing fracture toughness adding steel fibers in different amount and
disposition inside the composite
 Resulted from fatigue test done on samples showed longer crack length in samples with steel fibers
especially the ones with longitudinal filaments inside.
 Considering the maximum load registered by the machine it is possible to see a different behavior
in samples with steel fibers than in controls.
 In samples without steel filaments the load has a decreasing trend, as expected in this kind of test,
while samples with steel filaments after some cycles the load starts to increase a bit probably due
to the bridging effect of fibers inside the material.

11.References
[1] A review of mechanical drilling for composite laminates
[2] Fatigue behavior of composite materials
[3] Ductility of steel fiber/epoxy composites in function of their microstructure
[4] Fractography and failure mechanisms in static mode I and mode II delamination testing of
unidirectional carbon reinforced composites
[5] Transition-behaviors in fatigue-driven delamination of GFRP laminates
following step changes in block amplitude loading

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