Cheon-Seok Cha

Effects of temperature on impact damages in CFRP composite laminates

Abstract In this paper, the effect of temperature variations (low and high temperatures) was studied experimentally on impact damage to CFRP laminates. The composite laminates used in this experiment were CF/EPOXY orthotropic laminated plates with lay-up [0 6 /90 6 ] s and [0 4 /90 4 ] s , and CF/PEEK orthotropic laminated plates with a lay-up of [0 6 /90 6 ] s . A steel ball launched by the air gun was used to generate the CFRP laminate impact damage. For impact-damaged specimens, nondestructive evaluation (NDE), such as a scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) was performed on the delamination-damaged samples to characterize damage growth at different temperatures. Therefore, this study was undertaken to experimentally determine the interrelations between impact energy and impact damage (i.e. the delamination area and matrix) of CFRP laminates (CF/EPOXY and CF/PEEK) subjected to foreign object damages (FOD) at low and high temperatures.

A Study on Ultrasonic Evaluation of Material Defects in Carbon/Carbon Composites

It is desirable to perform nondestructive evaluation to assess material properties and part homogeneity because manufacturing of carbon/carbon (C/C) composites requires complicated and costly processes. In this work several ultrasonic techniques were applied to carbon/carbon composites for the evaluation of spatial variations in material properties that are attributable to the manufacturing process. In a large carbon/carbon composite manufactured by chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) method, the spatial variation of ultrasonic velocity was measured and found to be consistent with the densification behavior in CVI process in order to increase the density of C/C composites. Ultrasonic velocity and attenuation depend on a density variation of materials. Low frequency through-transmission scans based on both amplitude and time-of-flight of the ultrasonic pulse were used for mapping out the material property inhomogeneity. These results were compared with that obtained by dry-coupling ultrasonics. Pulse-echo C-scans was used to image near-surface material property anomalies such as the placement of spacers between disks during CVI. Also, optical micrograph had been examined on the surface of C/C composites using a destructive way.

Feasibility on fiber orientation detection on unidirectional CFRP composite laminates using nondestructive evaluation techniques

In particular, CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastics) composite materials have found wide applicability because of their inherent design flexibility and improved material properties. CFRP composites were manufactured from uni-direction prepreg sheet in this paper. It is important to assess fiber orientation, material properties and part defect in order to ensure product quality and structural integrity of CFRP because strength and stiffness of composites depend on fiber orientation. It is desirable to perform nondestructive evaluation which is very beneficial. An new method for nondestructively determining the fiber orientation in a composite laminate is presented. A one-sided pitch-catch setup was used in the detection and evaluation of flaws and material anomalies in the unidirectional CFRP composite laminates. Two Rayleigh wave transducers were joined head-to-head and used in the pitch-catch mode on the surface of the composites. The pitch-catch signal was found to be more sensitive than normal incidence backwall echo of longitudinal wave to subtle flaw conditions in the composite. Especially, ultrasonic waves were extensively characterized in the CFRP composite laminates both normal to fiber and along to fiber with using a one-sided direction of Rayleigh wave transducers. Also, one-sided ultrasonic measurement was made with using a Rayleigh wave transducers and a conventional scanner was used in an immersion tank for extracting fiber orientation information from the ultrasonic reflection in the unidirectional laminate. Therefore, it is thought that the proposed method is useful to evaluate integrity of CFRP laminates.

Axial Collapse Characteristics of Aluminum CFRP Compound Square Members for Vehicle Structural Members

An aluminum or CFRP (Carbon Fiber ReinfDrced Plastics)is representative one of light-weight materials but its axial collapse mechanism is different from each other. The aluminum member absorbs energy by stable plastic deformation, while the CFRP member absorbs energy by unstable brittle failure with higher specific strength and stiffness than those in the aluminum member. In an attempt to achieve a synergy effect by combining the two members, aluminum CFRP compound square members were manufactured, which are composed of aluminum members wrapped with CFRP outside aluminum square members with different fiber orientation angle and thickness of CFRP, and axial collapse tests were performed fur the members. The axial collapse characteristics of the compound members were analyzed and compared with those of the respective aluminum members and CFRP members. Test results showed that the collapse of the aluminum CFRP compound member complemented unstable brittle failure of the CFRP member due to ductile characteristics of the inner aluminum member. The collapse modes were categorized into four modes under the iuluence of the fiber orientation angle and thickness of CFRP. The absorbed energy Per unit mass, which is in the light-weight aspect was higher in the aluminum CFRP compound member than that in the aluminum member and the CFRP member alone.

Effect of temperatures on impact damage and residual strength of CFRP composite laminates

In this paper, the effect of temperature variations (low and high temperatures) was experimentally studied on the impact damages of CFRP laminates. Composite laminates used for this experiment are CF/EPOXY orthotropic laminated plates with two-interfaces [06/906]s and [04/904]s, and CF/PEEK orthotropic laminated plates with two-interfaces [06/906]s. A steel ball launched by the air gun collides against CFRP laminates to generate impact damages. With impact-damaged specimens, nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technique, such as a scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) was performed on the delamination-damaged samples to characterize damage growth using the SAM after impact damages according to the temperatures. Therefore, this study aims experimentally to present the interrelations between the impact energy and impact damages (i.e. delamination area and matrix) of CFRP laminates. (CF/EPOXY, CF/PEEK) subjected to FOD (foreign object damages) under low and high temperatures.