Interleaving light veils to minimise the trade-off between mode-I interlaminar fracture toughness and in-plane properties

Interleaving heavy micro-fibre veils, commonly used to improve interlaminar fracture toughness, severely compromises tensile and compressive properties. To reduce the trade-off, this study interleaved two different types of light (4 g/m2) co-polyamide veils into a thin-ply quasi-isotropic baseline laminate. Sub-micron resolution X-ray micro-computed tomography provided insight into the after-manufacturing state of the veil fibres as well as into the fracture process zone of mode-I interlaminar fracture toughness specimens. The veil fibre diameter was the key parameter in determining the tensile properties (the veil with thinner fibres avoided resin accumulation at the interfaces and left the baseline properties unaffected). Both veils decreased the compressive strength by up to 9%. Mode-I crack propagation was controlled by the adhesion between the veil fibres and resin. Veils fibres with the higher adhesion deflected crack propagation to the surrounding 0° plies, which improved mode-I initiation and propagation interlaminar fracture toughness (by 101% and 43%).

Thin-plies, Non-woven veils, B. Mechanical properties, D. CT analysis

10.1016/j.compositesa.2019.105659

1359-835X

García-Rodríguez, Santiago

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Costa Balanzat, Josep

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Rankin, Kathryn

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Boardman, Richard

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Singery, Vicky

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Mayugo Majo, Joan

66b5726f-5d72-45de-8004-b045cae81717

January 2020

García-Rodríguez, Santiago

df0ad396-b0cd-4d60-af55-2b9e6d4051c1

Costa Balanzat, Josep

5f6c032f-f276-4436-8a4a-b8230146929c

Rankin, Kathryn

d9516566-0ad8-473d-b99b-4683c663a2b7

Boardman, Richard

5818d677-5732-4e8a-a342-7164dbb10df1

Singery, Vicky

92cebe1b-e674-4ddf-b5c1-8aa1265ec143

Mayugo Majo, Joan

66b5726f-5d72-45de-8004-b045cae81717

García-Rodríguez, Santiago, Costa Balanzat, Josep, Rankin, Kathryn, Boardman, Richard, Singery, Vicky and Mayugo Majo, Joan (2020) Interleaving light veils to minimise the trade-off between mode-I interlaminar fracture toughness and in-plane properties. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 128, [105659]. (doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2019.105659).

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Accepted author's manuscript: Interleaving light veils to minimise the trade-off between mode-I interlaminar fracture toughness and in-plane properties - Accepted Manuscript

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Accepted/In Press date: 11 October 2019

e-pub ahead of print date: 15 October 2019

Published date: January 2020

Additional Information: Funding Information: The authors thank Chomarat (Le Cheylard, France) for manufacturing the materials used in this study. We acknowledge the support of Dr. Imma Boada and her team (Graphics and Imaging Laboratory, University of Girona) for providing the software “Starviewer”, the 3D viewer used to render the tomographic slices. We also acknowledge Professor Ian Sinclair and Dr. Mark Mavrogordato (Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton) for useful discussions. Thanks to the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and, in particular, to Lukas Helfen for assistance in using beamline ID19. We also extend our appreciation to the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades for the financial support under the contract RTI2018-097880-B-I00. The first author is particularly grateful for the support received from the Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca del Departament d’Empresa i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya through the pre-doctoral grant 2016FI_B_00551, co-funded by the Fondo Social Europeo (FSE). Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords: Thin-plies, Non-woven veils, B. Mechanical properties, D. CT analysis