Numerical and Experimental Investigations on Fatigue Behavior of Carbon/Epoxy Laminates Toughened by Nanofibers

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tafresh University, Tafresh, Iran

3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zanjan University, Zanjanو Iran

Abstract

Composite laminates are advanced engineering materials that are widely used in various industries due to their unique properties. The aim of this paper is to assess the effect of electrospun nanofibers on the fracture and fatigue behavior of composite laminates and also to investigate the performance of the Finite Element Method based on the Cohesive Zone Model, in predicting the fatigue behavior of the laminates. For this purpose, standard specimens were fabricated from carbon/epoxy Prepregs interleaved with nylon 6,6 nanofibers. The specimens were then subjected to mode I static and fatigue loading conditions. The results showed that fracture toughness was doubled by adding nanofibers between composite layers. Under fatigue loading, the crack growth rate of the nanomodified specimens was less than the virgin specimens. So, the crack growth rate decreased by 8 times with interleaving the nanofibers at 0/9 =Δ G/Gc . The Cohesive zone model method was used to evaluate the efficiency of finite element in modeling the fatigue crack growth rate in virgin and nanomodified specimens. The progressive failure model was used to simulate the fatigue behavior. Consistency of finite element results with the experimental results showed that the Cohesive zone model method is a suitable tool to model the fatigue behavior of interleaved composite laminates.

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References

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Amirkabir Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Volume 54, Issue 12
March 2023
Pages 2899-2916

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