Determination of the longitudinal compressive strength

of a CFRP ply through a tensile test on a laminate

Frédéric Laurin, P. Paulmier, F.X. Irisarri

To cite this version:

Frédéric Laurin, P. Paulmier, F.X. Irisarri. Determination of the longitudinal compressive strength of
a CFRP ply through a tensile test on a laminate. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufac-
turing, Elsevier, 2018, 113, pp.209-219. �10.1016/j.compositesa.2018.07.026�. �hal-01870106�

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 Determination of the longitudinal compressive strength of a
CFRP ply through a tensile test on a laminate
1 1 1
F. Laurin , P. Paulmier , F.-X. Irisarri
1
ONERA - The French Aerospace Lab, 29, avenue de la Division Leclerc, 92322 Châtillon Cedex,
France

Abstract
In this study, an innovative test is proposed to identify the longitudinal compressive

strength of a unidirectional ply. The key idea consists in designing a laminate that,

when subjected to a tensile loading, fails by compressive failure in its central 90°-ply,
due to the Poisson eect, without any prior damage. Six specimens have been tensile

tested to failure. No intra-laminar matrix damage could be detected before the nal

failure. Fibre kinking in the 90°-ply is observed experimentally in the failed specimens.

This damage mechanism, located in the gauge section of the specimens, leads to the

nal failure. A fast computational identication method is used to determine the lon-

gitudinal compressive stress and strain within the 90°-ply at failure, from this specic

tensile test. The identied average failure properties are consistent with those obtained

through conventional compression tests, but the associated scattering is much lower.

Consequently, this innovative method leads to an increase in the design allowable, re-

sulting in higher performance designs.

Keywords: Compressive strength, stacking sequence optimisation, bre kinking

1. Introduction
Composite materials and especially carbon bre reinforced plastics (CFRP) are

widely used in modern aircraft. Currently, the design methods of laminated composite

structures mainly rely on linear elastic structural analysis combined with failure criteria

[13] dened at the scale of the elementary unidirectional (UD) ply. Thus, determining

the design allowables, i.e. the ply strengths taking into account material scattering

Preprint submitted to Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing September 3, 2018
as recommended in the aeronautical standards [4], is a major concern for the design-

ers. Indeed, determination of the design allowables is a time consuming and expensive

process, since a large number of tests are required. In order to reduce cost and prod-

uct lead-time, fast and simple identication tests and analysis methods are required.

Moreover, proposing identication tests with low coecients of variation (CV) will in-

crease the A- and B-basis allowables, resulting in higher performance designs. The A

and B-basis design allowables are statistical values dened in the MIL-HDBK [4]. The

A (resp. B-basis) value indicates that 99% (resp. 90%) of the population values are

expected to be equal or greater than this value, with a 95% level of condence.

Among the in-plane strengths of a unidirectional ply, the determination of the ply

longitudinal compressive strength currently remains a technical and scientic challenge.

The failure mechanism observed for specimens subjected to longitudinal compressive

loading consists in bre kinking which has been extensively studied experimentally

and numerically in the literature [510]. This failure mechanism is very sensitive to

several factors such as alignment, specimen geometry, load introduction scheme, stress

concentration, buckling stability, and specimen end-crushing, thus justifying to pay a

special attention to compressive tests.

The longitudinal compressive strength, associated with the onset of bre kinking,

is usually identied using some standards, such as the EN2850 AECMA standard [11],

which is based on a uniaxial compressive test on unidirectional 0° laminates [12, 13].

However, this kind of test is very dicult to perform in order to obtain reliable and

reproducible results. Indeed, the design of compressive tests on 0° laminates necessitates

to consider carefully two major aspects: (i) the introduction of the applied loading and

(ii) the geometry of the specimens.

Many standards can be found in the literature regarding testing methods and x-

tures. As initially proposed by [14] and later improved in the ASTM D3410/D3410M-16

standard [15], the compressive force can be transmitted into the specimen through shear

at wedge grip interfaces. This experimental device necessitates the use of tabbed speci-

mens and of complex and heavy xtures. Alternatively, the EN2850 AECMA standard

2
[11] recommends to transmit the compressive force into the specimen through end-

loading [16], thus avoiding the use of additional tabs. This method is currently the

most commonly used in aeronautical industries and corresponds to the ASTM D695-15

standard [17]. Finally, the ASTM D6641/D6641M standard [18] combines shear load-

ing and end-loading to transmit the compressive force. Although higher compressive

strength can be obtained using this latter method [19, 20], this experimental device is

only seldom used due to the diculty to control the respective contributions of shear

loading and end-loading.

Concerning the specimen geometry and design, the specimens are usually thin in or-

der to be representative of the manufacturing process of most usual aeronautical panels

and also to reduce the required quantity of material and thus the cost. Therefore, the

gauge length is short (10 mm as recommended by the EN2850 AECMA standard [11])

in order to avoid premature failure due to specimen buckling. With such a specimen

geometry, failure generally occurs near the machine jaws, due to local stress concen-

trations. The resulting scattering on the measured longitudinal compressive strength

usually reaches up to 10 %. The corresponding design allowable is thus strongly reduced

compared with the average measured strength, which penalises composite solutions with

respect to their metallic counterparts. To overcome this limitation, Lee and Soutis [13]

studied the eect of the specimen size on the measured axial compressive strength of

CFRP materials. They demonstrated experimentally that, by simultaneously increas-

ing the gauge length, width and thickness of the specimen, the inuence of the edge

eects on the measured strength and the corresponding scattering are signicantly re-

duced (but remains non negligible, about 5 % CV). However, the method cannot be

applied to thin laminates because of the competition between global specimen buckling

and material failure under compressive loadings.

Several authors proposed to use bending tests to circumvent the diculties inherent

to compression testing of unidirectional laminates. Indeed, for a carbon/epoxy unidi-

rectional ply, the longitudinal compressive strength is much lower than the longitudinal

tensile strength. Thus, three-point bending tests [21, 22] and four-point bending tests

3
[23] are relevant to identify the compressive strength in the bre direction. However,

both test set-ups generate high stress concentrations under the rollers which can lead to

local indentation and premature failure of the specimen. The compression with pivots

testing device [24] allows to generate bending loading by osetting the mid-plane of the

laminate with respect to the rotation axes of the pivots, as an alternative to the existing

bending testing devices previously developed [2529]. This device allows to avoid both

local stress concentrations close to the jaws and roller indentation issues experienced

with the aforementioned testing set-ups. Moreover, it enables direct observation of the

compressive failure on the surface plies of the laminate. Due to the use of a bending

loading mode, the failure mechanism is observed in the gauge section, far from the jaws.

However, identifying the compressive strength from the test data requires geometrically

non-linear nite element analysis. Besides, the longitudinal elastic non-linear behaviour

of the Carbon/Epoxy UD plies has to be taken into account ([30, 31]). Therefore, dif-

culties are transferred from experimental analysis to numerical analysis which, all the

same, penalises the method for an industrial roll-out.

The present work aims at proposing an innovative test to identify the longitudinal

compressive strength of a unidirectional ply. Testing simplicity and low experimental

scattering are required as well as a simple identication method, economically compet-

itive for industry. Section 2 presents the general principle of the method and the design

of a specic laminate for the proposed test. Test results are detailed and analysed in

Section 3. The longitudinal compressive strain at failure is directly measured from the

tests while an inverse identication method is used to retrieve the longitudinal com-

pressive strength. Finally, the results are discussed in Section 4 and compared to the

strength values obtained with classical compressive tests performed on both unidirec-

tional 0°-laminates and quasi-isotropic laminates.

4
2. Laminate tensile test for longitudinal compressive strength identication

2.1. Exploiting the Poisson eect in tensile test on a laminate

In order to be used in aeronautical industries, the proposed alternative test must:

(i) be easy to perform, (ii) present a low scattering and (iii) its analysis should be as

simple as possible for the sake of eciency in design oces. The only test which fulls

all these three requirements is the tensile test. Therefore, the key idea of the present

work consists in nding a [±θ1 /±θ2 /.../90/.../±θ2 /±θ1 ]-laminate that, when subjected
to a tensile loading at the macroscopic scale, fails by bre compressive failure in the

central 90°-ply due to the Poisson eect.

Such a kind of laminate failure has already been observed in the literature. For in-

stance, in the framework of the rst World Wide Failure Exercise [32], test case number

4 aims at predicting the failure envelope of a [90/302 / − 302 ]s Eglass/LY556 laminate

in the longitudinal and transverse macroscopic stress plane (Σxx , Σyy ). Accurate pre-

diction of the experimental failure envelope is obtained using the ONERA Progressive

Failure Model (OPFM), as shown in Fig. 1.a [33]. In particular, a clear change of slope

can be observed experimentally and numerically for macroscopic loadings close to pure

uniaxial tension. The damage scenario for uniaxial loading is described in Fig. 1.b.

Transverse cracks in the 90°-plies appear rst, followed by transverse cracks within the

±30°-plies. Finally, specimen failure under macroscopic tensile loading is triggered by

the bre compressive failure of the 90°-plies due to the Poisson eect, as illustrated in

Fig. 1.b. Moreover, Eyer [34] has performed a uniaxial tensile test on a T700GC/M21

[±45/90/ ± 45]-laminate. Transverse cracks in the 90°-ply also appear rst, followed by
transverse cracks within the ±45°-plies. Post-mortem analysis has shown bre kinkings

in the central 90°-ply, conrming that this ply can fail in longitudinal compression due

to the Poisson eect.

These tests, however, are not suitable for easy identication of the material compres-

sive strength in the bre direction, Xc , since in-ply transverse damage occurs prior to

the nal failure and generates complex load redistribution between the plies. Moreover,

5
strong coupling between the ply damage state and its apparent strength in longitudinal

compression has been evidenced experimentally [35], which makes accurate identica-

tion of Xc even more dicult [10, 35]. In order to identify Xc easily using a tensile test

on a laminate, it is necessary to nd a stacking sequence that is not damaged prior to

bre compressive failure in the 90°-plies.

[ Figure 1 about here]

2.2. Lay-up optimisation using OPFM

The material chosen for this study is a unidirectional prepreg of T700GC/M21

2
carbon/epoxy composite of 268 g/m areal weight (the highest available areal weight

for this material). The thickness of the ply is about 0.26 mm. In order to minimise

the required quantity of material, it has been chosen to optimise a symmetrical and

balanced 17-ply laminate. The central ply is a 90° oriented ply and is the only 90°-ply
in the laminate. The objective of the optimisation is to nd a laminate whose rst

damage under tensile loading is bre failure in compression in the central 90°-ply. Since

the ply stacking order does not inuence the membrane properties of the laminate, the

design space can be described with [(±θ1 )/(±θ2 )/(±θ3 )/(±θ4 )/901/2 ]s laminates. Thus,

four optimisation variables θi=1,...,4 are enough. To full aeronautical manufacturing

requirements, the ply orientations θi (in degrees) are constrained to take values within

the discrete set {0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75}. Enumeration of the design space shows that it is

composed of 126 unique laminates only.

In the optimisation process, the prediction of the behaviour of the laminate up

to nal failure is performed using the OPFM model detailed in [33, 36]. This model

provides an accurate description of the ply behaviour by taking into account thermal

residual stresses, non-linear elasticity in the bre direction and viscoelasticity of the

matrix. Ply failure is captured through a mesoscopic stress-based failure multi-criteria

which distinguishes between bre failure (tensile and compressive failures are consid-

ered separately) and interbre failure (corresponding to the onset of transverse cracking

in the present study). The degradation of the mechanical properties of the failed plies

6
is based on continuum damage theory. The nal failure of the laminate is assumed to

be due to the rst ply failure in bre mode or in transverse compression. In the present

study, taking into account the thermal residual stresses after curing, the matrix viscos-

ity, and the in-situ interbre strengths ( i.e. the inuence of the layer thickness on the

apparent interbre strengths of the ply [37]) is necessary to predict accurately the rst

transverse crack in the laminate. Moreover, the model describes the non-linear elastic

behaviour in the bre direction with hardening in tension and softening in compression,

which constitutes a key point for the identication of the ply strength in longitudinal

compression. The parameters of the model have been identied on classical tests per-

formed at ONERA (see [30, 33, 36]): elementary tensile and compressive tests on 0°
or 90°-plies (to identify the elastic moduli, Poisson's ratio and strengths), tensile and

creep tests on a [±45°]s laminate (to identify the in-plane shear modulus, strength and

viscosity) and a tensile test on a multi-layered laminate to identify the onsets and the

evolution law associated with transverse cracking. The whole strength analysis method

dedicated to laminated plates has been implemented in Matlab

©. The computational

time on an ordinary laptop computer is about 5 seconds.

The 126 laminates have been evaluated using the OPFM model. Two laminates

were found that full the requirements of the problem: [02 /(±30/)2 ± 45/901/2 ]s and

[±15/(±30/)2 ±45/901/2 ]s . The rst solution was chosen due to the presence of the four

0°-plies that makes its behaviour in tension nearly linear up to failure. The stacking

order was determined afterwards in order to reduce the risk of premature edge delami-

nation by minimising the dierence in orientation between two consecutive plies. The

lay-up considered in the following is [−30/ − 45/ − 30/02 /302 /45/901/2 ]s .

3. Tensile test results and identication of the longitudinal compressive

strength
3.1. Experimental analysis of the damage scenario
A laminated plate has been manufactured at ONERA using a heating press with

2
T700GC/M21 prepreg sheets of 268 g/m areal weight. The material has been cured

7
according to the manufacturer's specications for specimens presenting a total thickness

inferior to 15 mm, with a heat-up at 3°C/min and a temperature stage at 180°C for

120 minutes. A 7 bar pressure has been applied for the duration of the cure cycle.

It should be noted that the used prepreg sheets have been stored at ONERA for a

time duration higher than the maximum storage life recommended by Hexcel, thus

inducing lower mechanical properties than those obtained with aeronautical quality

prepreg sheets (see Section 3.2). The total thickness of the plate, manufactured with

17 plies, is about 4.45 mm. Four shoulder-end specimens (130 mm x 30 mm gauge)

have been machined from the plate. These specimens are numbered from 1 to 4 in the

following. The geometry of the specimens is detailed in Fig. 2.a. A fth specimen has

been machined (130 mm x 20 mm gauge), to estimate the inuence of the width on the

identied longitudinal compressive strength. Glue has been applied on the edges of the

specimens 1 to 5 in order to prevent free edge delamination. Finally, for an additional

specimen numbered 6 (130 mm x 30 mm gauge), no glue has been added in order to

study the inuence of edge delamination on the identied strength.

[ Figure 2 about here]

The tensile tests have been conducted by means of a MASER hydraulic testing

machine (500 kN maximum capacity) with hydraulic jaws, as illustrated in Fig. 2.b.

The pressure imposed by the hydraulic jaws is 193 bar on the two largest parts of each

specimen. No additional tabs are bonded on the specimens for this tensile test. The

tests have been performed in the machine controlled displacement mode with a 0.2

mm/min constant displacement rate imposed until nal failure. It could be noted that

for specimens 3 and 6, tests have been interrupted prior to failure for complementary

analyses. Then, these two specimens have been tested up to failure afterwards.

Several measurement techniques have been used to establish the failure scenario.

Besides force and displacement measurements provided by the machine, Digital Image

stereo-Correlation (DIC) has been used, combined with the post-processing software

Vic3D
© to measure the displacement elds and evaluate the in-plane strains on the
8
specimen surface. In order to demonstrate that no transverse cracking occurs prior to

nal failure, additional measurement techniques have been used. Acoustic Emission

(AE) has been employed to detect possible local damage events during the tests. The

threshold for the AE recording has been set to 52 dB to avoid recording machine noises.

Passive infrared (IR) thermography with 200 Hz sampling rate has been employed with

the same purpose. To detect possible transverse cracking and free edge delamination,

some tests have been interrupted and analysed using C-Scan. Finally, to demonstrate

the presence of bre kinking in the central 90°-ply, X-ray computed tomography images,

with a 24 µm resolution, have been performed at LMT Cachan. Scanning electron mi-

croscope (SEM) examinations have been subsequently performed at ONERA to obtain

high resolution images of the bre kinkings.

Fig. 3.a shows that the measured macroscopic stress/strain (longitudinal and trans-

verse) curves are slightly non-linear up to the specimen failure. The macroscopic stress

is dened here as the applied load divided by the measured gauge section of the speci-

mens. The longitudinal and transverse strains are measured using the DIC strain elds

and a virtual strain gauge located at the centre of the gauge area. The grid size of the

virtual strain gauge is 10 mm x 10 mm and has been determined through a convergence

study on the strain at failure.

[ Figure 3 about here]

Failure occurs in the gauge section for all the tested specimens, as shown in Fig. 3.b.

The post-mortem failure pattern is complex and necessitates additional analysis with

other measurement techniques to establish the damage and failure scenario for such a

test. No damage events occur prior to the sudden failure of specimens with glue coated

edges. Indeed, no signicant acoustic event was recorded prior to the nal failure of

specimens and no transverse crack could be detected using passive IR thermography.

Thermography images obtained with the IR camera (Fig. 4) show no transverse crack

prior to the nal failure and illustrate the suddenness of failure. Specimen 3 has been

loaded up to 98 % of the average failure stress of specimens 1, 2 and 4 before interrupting

9
the test. No damage (transverse cracking or edge delamination) could be evidenced

using C-scan as well as X-ray computed tomography.

[ Figure 4 about here]

Detailed analysis of the post-mortem failure pattern shown in Fig. 3.b is necessary

to validate the expected damage scenario. Thus, X-ray computed tomography has been

performed on specimens 4 and 5 in order to analyse in three dimensions the local failure

mechanisms. Fig. 5 shows the kink-bands observed in the central 90°-ply in the gauge

length of specimen 4. Similar observation was obtained for specimen 5. The kink-

bands are observed in the (x,y) plane of the specimen (see Fig. 5) since the Poisson

eects generate both compressive transverse and out-of-plane strains. In this plane, the

angle formed by the kink-band direction and the bre direction (y axis) is close to 15°

which has already been reported in the literature [38] and explained through numerical

simulations [39, 40].

[ Figure 5 about here]

To conrm this result, specimens 2 and 4 have been resin coated, cut at mid-

thickness, polished and prepared for high resolution SEM examination of damage in

the central 90°-ply. Fig. 6 shows high resolution SEM images of the bre kinkings in

the central 90° ply of specimen 2. Similar images were obtained for specimen 4.

[ Figure 6 about here]

3.2. Identication of the longitudinal compressive strength

Fig. 7 compares the macroscopic behaviour predicted using OPFM to the experi-

mental results. The model predictions are in very good agreement with the tests. The

longitudinal macroscopic behaviour is linear elastic due to the presence of the 0°-plies.

Nevertheless, the transverse macroscopic behaviour is slightly non-linear. The OPFM

model can be used to show that this non-linearity is mainly due to the matrix vis-

cosity resulting from the in-plane shear stresses in the ±30° and ±45°-plies. Taking

10
into account the non-linear elastic behaviour in the bre direction further improves the

prediction of the transverse macroscopic behaviour.

[ Figure 7 about here]

Therefore, the longitudinal compressive strength in the bre direction can be deter-

mined by a model-based identication method, using OPFM. The longitudinal compres-

sive strength is assumed to be equal to the longitudinal stress in the 90°-ply predicted

by OPFM at the experimental macroscopic failure stress. Indeed, in the OPFM model,

it is assumed that the transverse stress has no inuence on the bre compression failure

as long as no matrix damage is generated. This assumption is based on the experimen-

tal data provided by Hütter et al. [41] on Eglass/LY556 tubes subjected to combined

internal pressure and axial compression, in which no signicant coupling between longi-

tudinal and transverse stresses on bre compression failure has been observed. To the

authors' knowledge, no other bi-axial experimental data is available in the literature to

support or refute this assumption.

The test results and the identied strength values are summarised in Table 1. The

average longitudinal compressive strength of specimens 1 to 5 (ve specimens with glue

coated edges) is Xc = -1034 MPa with 2.4 % CV. The strain at failure in the bre

compressive failure mode, Xεc , can be directly measured from the test (assuming that

no signicant edge delamination occurs prior to the nal failure) and is equal to the

transverse strain in the laminate. The average strain at failure is Xεc = -1.00 % with 6.2

% CV. It can be noted that the identied longitudinal compressive strain at failure and

strength are lower than those encountered in the literature [30, 42], due to the long-term

storage of the prepreg sheets used for the manufacturing of the tested specimens.

[ Table 1 about here]

Compared to classical uniaxial compression tests, the reduction of the scattering of

the stress and strain values at failure is explained by the loading mode of the specimen.

11
On the one hand, loading the specimen in tension enables to use long shoulder-end spec-

imens. Thus, local stress concentrations near the machine jaws do not trigger failure,

which occurs in the gauge length of the specimen. On the other hand, the compression

loading in the 90°-ply is due to the Poisson eect. Fig. 8.a shows the transverse strain

eld estimated on the surface of specimens 4 and 5 using DIC measurements. It can

clearly be seen from the gure that the transverse strain εyy is maximal far from the free

edges of the specimen. As shown in Fig. 8.b, 3D nite element simulations, using one

solid element in the thickness of each ply, accurately describe the longitudinal strain

gradient through the specimen width in the central 90°-ply expressed in the material

axes, which corresponds to the macroscopic transverse strain measured on the specimen

surface using DIC. Additionally, the simulation shows that the longitudinal macroscopic

stress is also maximal at mid-width of the specimen, as shown in Fig. 8.b. Thus, failure

initiates far from the free edges, in the gauge length of the specimen, which explains

the low experimental scattering observed.

[ Figure 8 about here]

Two additional tests have been performed to support this conclusion. First, speci-

men 5, with a 20 mm width gauge, has been tested. Consistent results were obtained

with respect to specimens 1 to 4 with Xc = -1037 MPa. The corresponding transverse

macroscopic strain eld estimated from DIC at 99 % of the failure load is shown in

Fig. 8.a. From this result, it seems that the width of the specimen has no signicant

inuence on the estimated strength and strain at failure, contrary to the classical com-

pressive test on 0°-plies. Second, specimen 6, with a 30 mm width gauge, but without

glue coated edges, has been tested. This test has been interrupted at 95 % of the

average failure load obtained for specimens 1 to 5 and C-scans have been performed.

Specimen 6 has been tested up to failure afterwards. Signicant acoustic events have

been recorded during the test, due to the stable propagation of delamination cracks

from the free edges to the centre of the specimen, which are clearly visible in Fig. 9.a.

Nevertheless, the bre compressive strength computed by a model-based identication

12
method is Xc = -998 MPa, which is consistent with the previously obtained results

on specimens with glue coated edges. However, in this case, the transverse strain at

failure cannot be directly estimated from the DIC measurements because the edge de-

lamination cracks aect the measured surface displacements elds as shown in Fig.

9.b.

[ Figure 9 about here]

4. Comparison with standard laminate compressive test results

4.1. Standard compression tests on 0°-specimens

Standard compression tests on 16-ply 0°-laminates have been performed at ONERA
according to the EN2850 AECMA standard [11] for comparison with the identication

results presented in Section 3. Compressive force is transmitted into the specimen

through end-loading, thus avoiding the use of additional tabs. The compressive tests

have been conducted by means of an electro-mechanical Schenck machine of 150 kN

maximum capacity, (see Fig.10.a). The tests are controlled in displacement with a

0.1 mm/min constant displacement rate. For all the compression tests, digital image

stereo-correlation and acoustic emission have been used.

The laminate has been manufactured using the same tooling and T700GC/M21

material batch as previously (see Section 3.1). The total thickness of the plate is about

4.20 mm. 18 specimens have been machined. A special attention has been paid to

the parallelism of the loaded faces and to their roughness. The dimensions of the

specimens are detailed in Table 2. In accordance with the EN2850 AECMA standard

[11], six specimens have a 10 mm side square gauge area. These specimens are called

standard in the following. Fig. 10.b shows the macroscopic stress / strain curves of

the specimens up to failure. The longitudinal strain is evaluated using a virtual strain

gauge located in the centre of the gauge section with a grid size of 7 mm x 7 mm. The

average measured bre compressive strength is Xc = -880 MPa with 9.9 % CV. Failure

of the specimens occurs close to the test machine grips as shown in Fig. 10.b. This

13
failure mode is typical of this kind of test and explains both the low average strength

value and the large scattering of the experimental data at failure.

[ Figure 10 about here]

[ Table 2 about here]

In order to quantify the inuence of the specimen size on the identied strength,

as reported by Lee and Soutis [13], additional compression tests have been performed

on larger samples. Type A specimens have a 10 mm gauge length and a 25 mm

gauge width. Type B specimens have a 25 mm side square gauge area. For each

conguration, six specimens have been tested up to failure. The experimental stresses

and strains at failure are given in Table 2 and the stress / strain curves are reported

in Fig. 10.b. The non-linear elasticity in the bre direction for compressive loading is

clearly observed in Fig. 10.b. The average tendency and scattering for the longitudinal

stress and strain at failure are shown in Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 respectively. As observed

by Lee and Soutis [13], the average value of Xc increases signicantly with the size

of the specimens while scattering decreases, larger specimens being less sensitive to

edge eects. However, failure still occurs close to the test grips. B-values for Xc and

Xεc determined in accordance with the MIL-HDBK [4] are also reported in Fig. 11

and Fig. 12, respectively. Note that for all congurations, strain at failure in the

longitudinal direction, Xεc , is a direct result of the test. Fig. 11 shows that the B-

value obtained with the proposed tensile test is higher than the average value obtained

using conventional 0°-specimens, regardless of their gauge lengths and widths. Indeed,

the standard compression tests on 0°-specimens are aected by edge eects and the

multi-axial stress states under the test grips that trigger premature failure and large

scattering of the test results, whereas the proposed tensile test is free of such drawbacks.

[ Figure 11 about here]

[ Figure 12 about here]

14
 In the standard compression tests on 0°-specimens, the plies are subjected to a pure
compression stress σ11 in the longitudinal direction, assuming perfect load transmission

at the ends of the specimen. In the proposed test, the central 90°-ply is submitted

to both longitudinal compression stress σ11 and transverse tensile stress σ22 . At lon-

gitudinal compressive failure, the transverse tensile stress, estimated with the OPFM

model, is lower but close to the transverse tensile strength of the ply. To the authors'

knowledge, no experimental data has been provided in the literature about a possible

inuence of the transverse tensile stress σ22 on the ply longitudinal compression strength
in the absence of transverse cracks. Thus, it is assumed here that such coupling has

no signicant eect on the estimation of the longitudinal compressive strength. Fur-

thermore, the in-plane strains encountered in the 0°-plies of standard compression tests
and in the central 90°-ply of the proposed test are rather similar with a compressive

longitudinal strain and a tensile transverse strain.

4.2. Compression tests on laminates

The aim of this section is to demonstrate that the longitudinal compressive strength,

identied on a tensile test on a specic laminate, can be used in a multiscale progressive

failure approach to predict the nal rupture of multi-layered laminates subjected to com-

pression. Therefore, complementary compression tests on multi-layered T700GC/M21

laminates have been performed at ONERA in compliance with the AITM 1-0008 stan-

dard [43]. The same experimental device, as previously, has been used and the test pa-

rameters are identical. Six 16-ply specimens with a quasi-isotropic [(45/90/ − 45/0)2 ]s
lay-up, noted 25/50/25, and six 20-ply specimens with an oriented [(45/02 / − 45/90)2 ]s
lay-up, noted 40/40/20, have been manufactured at ONERA using the same tooling

and T700GC/M21 material batch, as previously. The specimens have a 32 mm side

square gauge area. The compressive tests have been conducted using the experimental

device illustrated in Fig. 10.a. The longitudinal strain is evaluated through a virtual

strain gauge located in the centre of the gauge section with a grid size of 10 mm x 10

mm. The experimental average stress at failure and the associated scattering are given

15
in Table 3. The stress / strain curves are reported in Fig. 13. The experimental scat-

tering associated with these compression tests is large, especially for the quasi-isotropic

laminate (8.5%).

Finite element analyses of the behaviour of the 25/50/25 and 40/40/20 specimens

have been performed using OPFM and the average value of Xc identied in Section

3.2. Comparison between numerical predictions and experimental results is given in

Fig. 13 and in Table 3. For both lay-ups, the global behaviour of the specimen up to

failure is accurately captured by the simulation, mainly owing to the non-linear elastic

behaviour introduced in OPFM. The prediction error on the average failure load is

about -6.3 % in the case of the 16-ply quasi-isotropic specimens and -1.1 % only for

the 20-ply 0° oriented specimens. The failure predictions are thus conservative and

in good agreement with the experimental data. Thus, the longitudinal compressive

strength identied using a tensile test on a specic laminate is proven to be relevant

to accurately predict the failure of multi-layered laminates under uniaxial compression

loading.

[ Figure 13 about here]

[ Table 3 about here]

5. Conclusion

The present work proposes a tensile test on a specic laminate to identify the com-

pressive strength in the bre direction, Xc , of unidirectional carbon/epoxy plies. The

use of a standard tensile test set-up ensures simplicity of test realisation and highly

reproducible results, contrary to standard compression tests that suer from their high

sensitivity to edge eects and multi-axial stress concentrations close to the machine

jaws. Consequently, with standard compression tests, failure generally occurs under

16
the grips. Therefore, experimental scattering is large, typically about 10 %, and av-

erage strength values are low which results in a very low design allowable, e.g. A or

B-values, for the composite material.

In order to achieve simple identication of the longitudinal compressive strength

using a tensile test, a specic laminate has been determined that fails by longitudinal

compression in its central 90°-ply, due to the Poisson eect, without any prior damage.

The [−30/ − 45/ − 30/02 /302 /45/901/2 ]s lay-up has been determined using the OPFM

model which is subsequently used for the identication of Xc , based on the test results.

Six specimens have been manufactured and tested up to failure. In order to simplify the

identication of the longitudinal compressive strength, it is recommended to add glue

on the free edges of the specimen to prevent edge delamination. Moreover, avoiding

edge delamination allows direct measurement of the longitudinal compressive strain at

failure in the central 90°-ply, which corresponds to the macroscopic transverse strain.

With the proposed tensile test, failure occurs in the gauge length of the specimen. The

experimental scattering is very low, about 2.4 % CV for Xc . Consequently, the design

allowables (stress and strain) are signicantly higher than those obtained with standard

compression tests. Finally, the failure being initiated at mid-width of the specimen due

to the Poisson eect, it has been demonstrated experimentally that the inuence of the

specimen width on the identied compressive strength is negligible, contrary to classical

compressive tests on UD plies.

The damage scenario has been experimentally validated using in-situ passive ther-

mography imaging, post-mortem X-ray tomography and fractography through SEM

examinations. No damage has been detected prior to specimen failure and kink-bands

are present within the central 90 °-ply after failure.

The identication of the longitudinal compressive strength Xc using the OPFM

model relies on the assumption that the transverse stress has no eect on the compres-

sive strength in the absence of any transverse crack. This assumption is debatable [44]

even if it seems to be supported by the comparisons presented in this work. On the

one hand, the average longitudinal compressive strength identied using the proposed

17
tensile test turns out to be higher than that identied on conventional compression

tests performed at ONERA using the same material batch. On the other hand, the

OPFM model is used with very satisfactory results to predict the average failure load

of two multi-layered laminates under uniaxial compression using the average Xc strength
value identied on tensile tests. Nevertheless, further work could investigate the pos-

sible coupling between transverse stress and bre kinking. Thin-ply laminates seem

very appropriate for such a study. Their higher interbre strengths, indeed, provide

increased design freedom to nd stacking sequences with varying transverse stresses in

the central 90°-ply at compressive failure.

6. Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Dr. R. Valle, for valuable

and helpful discussions.

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23
 Σ

Compression

Σ
in 90° ply
due to the
Poisson effect

Figure 1: a) Biaxial failure envelope of the [90/±302 ]s Eglass/LY556 laminate under combined Σxx and
Σyy macroscopic applied stresses [33, 41]. b) Macroscopic behaviour of the [90/±302 ]s Eglass/LY556
laminate under uniaxial tensile loading.

 "ACKFACE
A B (YDRAULICJAW



2

3PECKLE
FOR$)#
 %!
 SENSOR
 'LUE  ,6$4
   SENSOR
COATED
EDGES

(YDRAULICJAW
'LOBALVIEW
UNITSMM 3PECIMEN 3PECIMEN 3PECIMEN

Figure 2: a) Dimensions of the specimens. b) Experimental set-up.

24
as bs

Σ xx dMPas
600

Delamination
att548tMPa

Transverset
cracking
x
εyy y 400

10
83 Specimen 1
Specimen 2

tintthetcentralt90°tply
Multi8fragmentation
84
85 Specimen 3
virtual 200
strain 86 Specimen 4
gauge 87 Specimen 5

ε yy d9s εxx d9s

81 80.5 0 0.5 1
Toptface Freetedge

Figure 3: a) Macroscopic stress / strain curves of the tested specimens under uniaxial tensile loading.
Location of the virtual gauge for εyy strain measurement on specimen 4. b) Failure pattern of specimen
1.

DL DL DL
2 7850 7900 8000

80
7650 7700 7700

60 7450 7500 7400

1 3
Load (kN)

40

20

0
0 200 400 600 800
1- F = 47.8 kN 2- F = 87.3 kN 3- F = 60.7 kN
Time (s) t = 468.00 s t = 914.36 s t = 914.37 s

Figure 4: Thermography images obtained with the IR camera during loading of specimen 4. Image 2
has been taken approximately 1/100 s before the specimen failure. No transverse cracks are visible in
images 1 and 2.

25
 A B

X X X
Z
Y
Y
Z
Z

Figure 5: Post-mortem X-ray tomography images of specimen 4 (a) at mid-thickness with kink-bands
in the gauge area of the specimen and (b) at mid-width section with fragmented central 90°-ply.

mid-width
Specimen polished 100 µm
to mid-thickness

In 90° ply

Fibre kinking

2 mm 50 µm

Figure 6: SEM observations of bre kinkings in the central 90°-ply of specimen 2 after polishing to
mid-thickness.

26
 Σ xx (MPa)
linear linear

600

x
z 400
y
OPFM
Specimen 1
Virtual Specimen 2
strain
gauge 200 Specimen 3
Specimen 4
Specimen 5

ε yy (%) ε xx (%)
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1

Figure 7: Comparison between the macroscopic stress / strain curves evaluated with virtual strain
gauges and the global behaviour predicted by FE simulation using OPFM.

11 11

yy yy

Figure 8: a) Transverse strain eld εyy measured on the surface of specimens 4 and 5 with DIC just
prior to failure. b) FE analysis with OPFM of the longitudinal strain (ε11 ) and stress (σ11 ) elds
expressed in the material axes within the central 90°-ply.

27
 A B

3 xx (MPa)
4ESTINTERRUPTED
600
FOR# SCAN

400
Specimen 1 3PECIMEN
Specimen 2 DELAMINATION
ONSET
Specimen 3
Specimen 4
Specimen 5 200
Specimen 6

E yy (%) E xx (%)
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1

Figure 9: a) C-scan observation of the delamination cracks for specimen 6 without glue coated edges
after test interruption. b) Inuence of edge delamination cracks on the macroscopic stress / strain
curves.

-1.0 -0.5 0
(%)
-1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0 11

-2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0

0

-200

-400

-600
(MPa)

-800
11

Figure 10: a) Compression test experimental set-up used at ONERA. b) Failure pattern of the 0°
specimens subjected to compressive loading. c) Compression test results on 0° specimens. Stress /
strain curves for three specimen congurations.

28
 -1100
Longitudinal compressive strength (MPa)

-1000

-900

-800

Average Xc
-700 B-Value X c

-600
Compression Compression Compression Tensile
Standard Type A Type B test

Figure 11: Comparison between the longitudinal compressive strengths identied using compression
tests and the present method (tensile test).

Specimen number 1 2 3(*) 4 5

Macro. stress at failure (MPa) 660 679 694 651 674

Average stress (MPa) (CV %) 671 (2.5)

Transverse strain at failure (%) -1.00 -1.00 -1.08 -0.91 -0.99

Average strain (%) (CV %) -1.00 (6.2)

Longitudinal strength Xc (MPa) -1016 -1045 -1067 -1003 -1037

Average strength (MPa) (CV %) -1034 (2.4)

Table 1: Tensile tests on [−30/ − 45/ − 30/02 /302 /45/901/2 ]s specimens. Direct experimental results
and identied compressive strengths in the bre direction Xc . The test performed on the specimen
noted (*) has been rstly interrupted for analysis and then reloaded up to failure.

29
 -1.0
Longitudinal strain at failure (7)

-0.9

-0.8

-0.7

-0.6 Average X ε
c

B-Value X ε c

-0.5

Compression Compression Compression Tensile

Standard Type A Type B test

Figure 12: Comparison between the longitudinal compressive strains at failure obtained using com-
pression tests and the present method (tensile test).

A εXX B ε XX
             
 
/0 & - /0 & -
3 PECIMEN 3 PECIMEN 

3 PECIMEN 3 PECIMEN
3 PECIMEN 3 PECIMEN 
3 PECIMEN  3 PECIMEN
3 PECIMEN 3 PECIMEN 
3 PECIMEN 3 PECIMEN
ΣXX-0 A
ΣXX-0 A


  
&AILURESTRESS &AILURESTRESS
4EST -0A 4EST -0A
 
/0&- -0A /0&- -0A

Figure 13: Comparison between the measured and predicted macroscopic stress / strain curves for a)
a 25/50/25 laminate and b) a 40/40/20 laminate subjected to uniaxial compressive loading.

30
 Gauge area Stress at failure Strain at failure

Specimens length x width (MPa) (%)

(mm) x (mm) (CV %) (CV %)

Standard 10 x 10 -880 (9.8) -0.80 (10.8)

Type A 25 x 10 -920 (5.9) -0.82 (12.7)

Type B 25 x 25 -924 (4.2) -0.86 (5.7)

Table 2: Geometry, stress and strain at failure for the three congurations of compressive tests on
0°-plies.

Predicted Experimental Error

Laminate macro. stress at failure macro. stress at failure Theo. / Average

Theoretical (MPa) Average (MPa) (CV %) (%)

25/50/25 -404 -431 (8.5) -6.3

40/40/20 -531 -537 (4.9) -1.1

Table 3: Comparison between the predicted and measured macroscopic stress at failure of
T700GC/M21 quasi-isotropic 25/50/50 and oriented 40/40/20 laminates subjected to uniaxial com-
pression.

31