Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Composite Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Effect of automated fiber placement (AFP) manufacturing signature on T

mechanical performance of composite structures
Minh Hoang Nguyena, Avinkrishnan A. Vijayachandrana, Paul Davidsona, Damon Callb,
Dongyeon Leeb, Anthony M. Waasa,
⁎

a
Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
b
Toray Composite Materials America Inc., Tacoma, WA 98446, United States

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: A comprehensive and detailed experimental study of the influence of imperfections caused during Automated
Polymer matrix composites (PMCs) Fiber Placement (AFP) manufacturing is reported. Specimens with controlled gap and overlap imperfections of
Automated fiber placement (AFP) varying sizes and distribution were manufactured and tested. Pre-test microscopy inspection has been conducted
Compaction to quantify the change in geometry due to compaction. Test results show significant knockdown in stiffness and
Manufacturing signature (MS)
strength due to gaps, specifically with larger gap sizes showing higher knockdown. Overlaps, on the other hand,
Imperfections
may provide improvement in tensile properties and show negligible change in compressive properties. Digital
Effect of defects
Defects image correction (DIC), in situ inspection with edge cameras and post-test microscopy analyses provide a de-
Gaps tailed insight into the failure progression and modes.
Overlaps
Mechanical properties
Toughened composites
Material testing
Failure
Microscopy inspection

1. Introduction
Subsequent to commercial availability of carbon fiber composites in
the 1960s, Automated Tape Laying (ATL) and Automated Fiber
Placement (AFP) technologies have been developed since the 1970s and
1980s, respectively [1]. The primary intended benefit of automation in
the manufacturing of composite structures is lower cost through scrap
reduction and improved production cycle time when compared with
hand-layup. Another benefit of automation especially using AFP is the
ability to tailor the layup based on geometry and loading conditions
though fiber steering – i.e., fiber paths can now be placed based on
optimum designs.
ATL and AFP are layer-by-layer additive manufacturing processes
since prepreg tapes are added layer by layer to build the parts [1–3].
The machines can be a gantry system or industrial robots, which are
computer numerically controlled (CNC) and follow programmed paths
in order to deliver and lay down the tapes on the tool surface or the
previous ply, using a consolidation/ compaction roller. An ATL machine
lays a single wide tape and provides high productivity for large flat
acreage parts. Due to the mass of the head, material and the part sizes,
ATL heads are usually mounted on gantry systems. AFP machines, on
the other hand, use materials with smaller widths and lay down mul-
tiple (up to 32) slit tapes/ tows simultaneously to create a course. Fig. 1
shows an example of an AFP machine using an industrial robot arm (a)
and a modular layup head (b) (Electroimpact Inc.). The tows can be
driven independently and therefore enable the manufacture of complex
curved geometries.
Just as with manual layup, composite part manufacturing through
automation also suffers from inherent, unintended imperfections. These
imperfections are caused due to multiple reasons, but can be categor-
ized into three groups; imperfections due to the layup, imperfections
due to consolidation/ curing, and material imperfections.
Layup imperfections refer to imperfections caused due to the pro-
cess of laying up of individual tapes on a tool (Fig. 1c). Imperfections
like tow misalignment, tow buckling, tow pull up, gaps and fold-over
(overlaps) belong to this category (Fig. 1d). This category of layup
imperfections is closely related to the machine that is used and hence is
referred to as manufacturing signature (MS), based on a similar term

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: awaas@umich.edu (A.M. Waas).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2019.111335
Received 12 May 2019; Received in revised form 16 August 2019; Accepted 20 August 2019
Available online 29 August 2019
0263-8223/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

Gaps

Overlaps

a) b) c) d)
Fig. 1. Automated fiber placement (AFP) and manufacturing signature (MS): a) Robotic arm with modular head. b) Roller head during placement. c) Laminate
consisting of tows. d) Schematic of possible gap and overlap defects occurring during an AFP layup.

used earlier [4]. A MS is unique to the AFP machine, the materials and 2. Fabrication
the specific process used. Therefore, MS is a manufacturing process
identifier. Consolidation curing can cause voids, gaps or cracks due to In AFP manufacturing, the course width used is in multiples of 1 , 1
8 4
shifting of tows during consolidation, and residual stresses induced due
or 1
tapes [1], for example, a 2 course width will contain eight 1
to polymerization of the resin. Material imperfections are the ones 2 4
tapes. The majority of defects caused due to manufacturing can be at-
caused due to air or moisture absorption, fiber quality, and foreign
tributed to inter-course gaps and laps. However, often there is also the
materials, which leads to unintended voids or misaligned fibers.
possibility of intra-course imperfections due to missing tape, or over-
Even though the imperfections are categorized differently, para-
lapping tapes. For this study, the upper defect size bound taken to be
meters causing these imperfections can span and influence each group.
For example, the tackiness of epoxy during layup can change adhesion the width of a missing tape, i.e. 1 . The lower bound was taken to be 1 ,
2 32
of tow with a tool and also polymerization during curing. Thus there is which is half of the standard AFP manufacturing specification. Sizes in
no one-to-one causational effect between processing or material para- between the bounds were taken as geometric sequence between the two
meters to the type and severity of imperfections.
As mentioned earlier, imperfections are inherent to any “mass”
bounds, giving a defect size set { 1
2
, 1
4
, 1
8
, 1
16
, 1
32 }. In addition, base-
line panels without intended defects were also manufactured for re-
production and are nearly impossible to eliminate. However, the pro- ference. All panels were manufactured using AFP compliant Toray
blem of imperfections can be tackled by two different approaches, T800S/3900 pre-preg.
which can be combined to form a more robust strategy. First of which is Due to limited availability of AFP machines during this project,
understanding the parameters that influence the imperfections so that panels with relatively large nominal (pre-cure) defect sizes N = 1 , 1
one can put in place stricter control on the critical parameters. Second 2 4

is to understand the influence of imperfections and develop imperfec- and 1

were manufactured using hand lay-up. The smaller nominal
8
tion tolerant design using mechanics. Along with this understanding, defect sizes of 1 and 1 , were manufactured using AFP. The alignment
16 32
new methods to further improve the automated process emerges. and staggering of defects were also studied. For example, two plies can
An exhaustive study of all possible defects and variations in man- be shifted such that the imperfections occurring in both the plies are
ufacturing is not possible by experimental methods, due to immense aligned or staggered relatively to each other. Details about staggering
expense required to perform such a study. A more systematic approach and the lay-up processes are described in subsequent subsections.
would be to identify typical defects and sizes of defects observed during
manufacturing (manufacturing signature), and use these to bound the
2.1. Hand layup manufacturing
design of experiments. To reduce the number of tests further, a set of
tests with controlled defects can be utilized to develop a high fidelity
The manual manufacturing followed traditional hand lay-up pro-
finite element analysis model, which then can be used to simulate
cedures, wherein a roll of prepreg unidirectional material was thawed
various defect types. Such a framework has been outline by Davidson
to room temperature and cut into individual sheets or tapes, using a
et al. [5].
CNC fabric cutter for precision. Cut plies were placed on an aluminum
There has been limited prior studies that investigate influence of
caul plate treated with multiple layers of a release agent to ensure ease
defects due to AFP manufacturing. Early work was done by Croft et al.
of de-molding. Subsequent plies were placed on top and debulked after
[6], where the study was limited to one defect size. A more detailed
every fourth ply to ensure sufficient ply compaction.
study was performed by Lan et al. [7], where the authors show the
The baseline panels were fabricated using 16 × 16 pristine prepreg
influence of the defect size on the laminate properties with shear and
sheets, whereas the defect panels require more specialized methods,
compressive tests. More recently studies by Belnoue et al. [8] and Kim
which are described in the following paragraphs.
et al. [9], have extended the research on studying the effect of com-
paction and steering on defect formation.
2.1.1. Controlled gap panels
Further studies are needed in order to understand the effect of dif-
Fig. 2 shows the manufacturing procedure for a generic gap panel.
ferent defect sizes and layouts [10]. In this study, a systematic set of
Two cut lines introduced the gaps within the prepreg sheet in the fiber
tests are conducted to generate data to be used in modeling, with a
direction, simulating a gap between two courses. For better handling of
focus on studying the influence of the varying size of gaps and overlaps
the sheets, the cut lines were terminated before reaching the edge of the
on the performance of AFP manufactured composite structures. The
sheet, which allowed for ease of placement and alignment of gaps. After
sizes studied cover the complete range of defects typically observed in
a defect ply has been aligned and attached to the ply underneath, the
manufacturing of AFP parts. This paper provides details on the manu-
strips are pulled out and removed, thus creating a gap in the ply. In
facturing method, microscopy inspection, testing and post test inspec-
order to keep the complexity low, the gaps were only introduced into
tion results in detail, identifying the effect of MS on mechanical per-
the 0° and 90° plies. The center-to-center distance between each gap
formance of AFP structures.
was kept at 2 .

2
M.H. Nguyen, et al.
nominal gap size
defects introduced
y
x
gap panel
Fig. 2. Schematic of the hand-layup process for a controlled gap and lap panel.
2.1.2. Controlled overlap panels
Following the controlled gap panels, the controlled overlap panels
also had the defects placed only in the 0° and 90° plies. Unidirectional
prepreg material was cut in strips of 2 wide and 16 in length mi-
micking one course width in AFP manufacturing. A template of 2 width
was made using an acrylic sheet, and grooves were carved on it at
distances 1 , 1 and 1 from one of the long edges. ± 45° plies were laid
2 4 8
as normal sheets, whereas for 0° and 90° plies, individual 2 strips were
placed, and the subsequent tow was placed aligning to the defect
marking on the template, ensuring that the defect sizes were main-
tained within the manufacturing tolerance for all lap sizes. Thus, the
center-to-center distance between each defect in this case would be
(2 L, N ) , see Fig. 2.
To manufacture aligned overlap panels, all the strips were cut
identically using 2 width and maintaining the same center-to-center
distance between the predetermined overlap locations. For staggered
overlap panels, alternate 0° and 90° plies had two 1 wide strips at each
of the longer edges.
2.2. Automated fiber placement (AFP) manufacturing
The AFP panels for this study were manufactured using a machine at
Electroimpact Inc., as shown in Fig. 1. A CNC controlled robot arm with
a modular head carrying eight spools of 1 wide slit tapes (tows) of
4 hand-layup and AFP machine layup methods, listed in Table 1. For each
Toray T800S/3900 prepreg was used. Consequently, each course is 2
wide.
Apart from course misalignment, other processing factors can also
lead to defects. For example, sub-optimal tack can lead to insufficient
adhesion of the tows, which need to be manually corrected. Another
type of imperfection to consider is a splice within the slit tapes, which
may cause slight undulations. These defects were not investigated as
part of this study and avoided during specimen cutting. More details of
the AFP layup are provided in A.
2.3. Specimen configuration
To identify the different types of panels and specimens, a nomen-
clature was established, as shown in Fig. 3. They can be categorized
into the layup method, defect type, defect size, alignment and layout.
The types of specimens obtained from the manufactured panels are
described in detail below.
The consequence of laying up strips of material in each layer to
manufacture a panel is that the specimen extracted from such panels
3
Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335
(n+1)th strip
groove
nth strip template
nominal lap size
overlap panel
can have defect aligned in a specific manner. The defect maps of an
aligned and staggered panel, are depicted in Fig. 4. As previously
mentioned, the defects were only introduced in the 0° and 90° plies,
which are plies 2,6,11 and 15 (0° ) and 4,8,9 and 13 (90° ). For the
aligned panels, the defects (within different plies) are on top of each
other, while in the staggered ones, only two defects are aligned (see
Fig. 4). The specimens are shown in the schematic, which are 1 × 7 for
tension and 1 × 5.5 for compression.
For each test type, depending on the location and alignment of the
defects, “minus” (−) and “plus” (+) specimens were obtained. In case
of an aligned defect panel, these two classes of specimens are easily
distinguishable. For a (−) specimen, defects are present only in the 90°
plies at the gage section. For a (+) specimen, defects are present in both
0° and 90° plies at the gauge section (see Fig. 4).
In the case of staggered defect panels, the (−) and (+) specimens
have similar defect layouts in the 90° plies. The only distinguishable
feature between the two classes of specimens here is that a (−) spe-
cimen has defects introduced in 0° plies in layers 6 and 15, whereas a
(+) has defects introduced in 0° plies in layers 2 and 11 (see Fig. 4).
2.4. Summary of manufacturing
In total, there were 23 panels manufactured and cured, using both
layup method, two benchmark panels without controlled defects were
manufactured: An 8-ply laminate for benchmark tensile tests and a 16-
ply laminate for benchmark compressive tests. All the defect panels
were made of 16 plies.
The panels 5 to 15 are hand laid-up imperfection panels with defect
sizes 1 , 1 and 1 . Both aligned and staggered defect panels were
2 4 8
manufactured.
A total of eight imperfection panels were manufactured using AFP.
The controlled defect panels manufactured had defect sizes 1 and 1
16 32
for both gaps and laps and for both aligned and staggered designs. The
imperfections have a distance of 2 to one another in each ply. The
distance is here edge to edge since the course width is constant at 2 .
The staggering parameter used is 0.4 which is an industry standard. It is
used for both baseline and staggered gap panels.
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

HG8AM
P = Plus (+) specimen
M = Minus (-) specimen
A = Aligned defects
S = Staggered defects
0 = No defects
2 = 1/2 in
4 = 1/4 in
8 = 1/8 in (+) (-)
16 = 1/16 in
B = Benchmark
32 = 1/32 in
G = Gap
H = Hand layup L = Overlap
M = Machine layup

Fig. 3. Nomenclature used in this study.

microscopy
inspection
plane

2,6,11,15 + + 2,11 + +

y, 90
- - 6,15 - -
x, 0
aligned defects staggered defects
4,8,9,13 8,13 4,9
Fig. 4. Schematic of the hand-layup process for defect panels. The numbers indicate the ply number, where the defects are introduced.

Table 1 3. Inspection
Description of the manufactured panels.
# Panel Layup Dimension Lap Gap Stagger
3.1. Visual observation

1 HB0 Tension [+45/0/ 45/90]S 16 × 16 – – – The cured baseline and imperfection panels are shown in Fig. 5. The
2 HB0 Compression [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 16 × 16 – – – defects appear clearly on the surface as waffle-like patterns. The re-
3 MB0 Tension – – –
[+45/0/ 45/90]S 24 × 18 lative difference in the defect sizes can be easily identified with the
4 MB0 Compression [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 24 × 18 – – –
naked eye, especially in aligned gap specimens, whereas with overlap
5 HG2A [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 16 × 16 – 1/2 – specimens, the surface undulation is more diffused.
6 HG2S [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 16 × 16 – 1/2 1 Fig. 5 also shows samples of the cured AFP baseline panels (MB0), as
7 HG4A [+45/0/ 45/90]2S – –
16 × 16 1/4
well as the manufactured AFP gap and overlap panels. Similar to the
8 HG4S [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 16 × 16 – 1/4 1
handmade defect panels, the imperfections are easily identified by vi-
9 HG8A [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 16 × 16 – 1/8 –
10 HG8S [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 16 × 16 – 1/8 1
sual inspection. It must be noted that, unlike the hand laid-up panels,
11 HL2A [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 16 × 16 1/2 – – the defects here are not as prominent. This is because defects in AFP
12 HL2S [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 16 × 16 1/2 – 1 manufactured panels were 1 to 1 which are much smaller compared
16 32
13 HL4A [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 16 × 16 1/4 – – to hand laid-up defective panels.
14 HL4S –
[+45/0/ 45/90]2S 16 × 16 1/4 1 Staggering of the gaps diminishes the effect on the appearance of
15 HL8A [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 16 × 16 1/8 – –
the geometry, as on the panels MG16S, ML16S, MG32S, and ML32S.
16 MG16A [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 18 × 18 – 1/16 – Aligned 1 (MG16A and ML16A) defects appear clearly on the surface
17 MG16S [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 18 × 18 – 1/16 0.4 16
in the 0° and 90° directions. An interesting observation is that gaps and
18 MG32A [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 18 × 18 – 1/32 –
19 MG32S [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 18 × 18 – 1/32 0.4
overlaps were also observed on the baseline panels which were pro-
20 ML16A [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 18 × 18 1/16 – – grammed without any controlled defects and were to follow set in-
21 ML16S [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 18 × 18 1/16 – 0.4 dustry standards by the manufacturer. It was observed that the un-
22 ML32A [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 18 × 18 1/32 – – dulations appear to be reduced with higher laminate thickness.
23 ML32S [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 18 × 18 1/32 – 0.4

4
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

2" 2"
Hand - layup

HG2A HG4A HG8A HG2S HG4S HG8S

HL2A HL4A HL8A HL2S HL4S HL8S

y, 90

x, 0

2"
AFP - layup

MG16A MG32A MG16S MG32S

MB0 8-ply MB0 16-ply

ML16A ML32A ML16S ML32S

Fig. 5. Surface images of the manufactured panels.

3.2. Microscopy inspection
Microscopy was performed to check the quality of the laminates and
measure the ply and defect geometries. The specimens were cut from
the panels using waterjet to ensure precision in cutting and good finish.
Sanding and polishing were done to prepare the specimens. The sam-
ples were sequentially sanded down using silicon carbide papers with
grit size ranging from a coarse 180 grit to a finer 1200 grit. For pol-
ishing, polishing slurry of different grain sizes were used: 6, 3 and 0.5
microns. The samples were examined under an optical microscope.
With Microsoft Image Composite Editor, multiple images were stitched
together to create images that cover a large field of view of the sample.
3.2.1. Microscopy results – hand-layup baseline (HB0)
A through-the-thickness image of a 16-ply quasi-isotropic laminate
(HB0) is shown in Fig. 6. The average ply thickness including the in-
terfaces is 0.0075 . Since the Toray material T800S/3900 has tough-
ening micro-particles in the interlayers, the interfaces have finite
thicknesses, similarly reported in previous works by Nguyen et al.
[11,12]. An interface exists between every ply with a nominal thickness
of 0.0012 , which is approximately 15% of the cured ply thickness. The
material does not show any voids or porosity, thus having good quality.
The nominal fiber volume fraction is 60% (including interlayers), ac-
cording to the Toray data sheet.
3.2.2. Microscopy results – AFP-layup baseline (MB0)
Fig. 7 presents a microscopy image of an AFP sample. The MB0
quasi-isotropic laminate was cut along the 0°/x-direction. Even though
MB0 panels were never intended to have gaps or overlaps, microscopy
revealed small gaps between courses. Due to layup tolerances, there are
also slightly larger gaps, as shown in Fig. 7. This gap creates a local
undulation, which however does not significantly affect the subsequent
plies.
3.2.3. Microscopy results – imperfection samples
Microscopy analyses of test specimens with imperfections were
conducted for all defect configurations, prior to testing, so as to un-
derstand post cure micro-structure. Since the fiber waviness of the 0°
fibers is of interest, the samples are cut along the loading (x) direction.
The ± 45° and 90° plies can be identified as dark matte regions, while 0°

45 0 -45 90 45 0 -45 90 90 -45 0 45 90 -45 0 45

x z

y carbon fibers
avg. ply thickness matrix
toughening micro-
particles

interface with finite thickness

Fig. 6. Microscopic through-the-thickness view of a [45/0/ 45/90]2s pristine baseline laminate (HB0).

5
M.H. Nguyen, et al.
0.01 0.254mm)
gap between tows
(staggered gaps)
layup tolerance
z In case of small overlaps, as is with ML32A and ML32S specimens,
y x
Fig. 7. Microscopic through-the-thickness view of the AFP baseline laminate
(MB0). Layup: [45/0/ 45/90]2s .
plies appear shiny white. To illustrate the difference in geometry be-
tween large and small defect sizes, in this paper, representative mi-
crographs of hand lay-up 4 and AFP manufactured 32 specimens
1 1
with gaps and over-lap defects are detailed.
Fig. 8 shows the comparison of aligned (HG4A) versus staggered
(HG4S) specimens, with cut-out showing the details of gaps formed.
HG4A refers to the case where all the gaps are aligned within a stack up,
whereas HG4S refers to staggered gaps. In both cases, the micro-graphs
reveal that during consolidation and curing, the tows spread and fill the
gap between tows, which leads to a reduction in tow-to-tow gaps size.
Also noticed is that, tows that were originally square in shape fill out
gaps and have tapered or oblong tips with matrix pockets. As a con-
sequence, the adjoining plies become misaligned. The degree of mis-
alignment depends on the location of the defect because the degree of
consolidation varies through the thickness of the ply.
HG4A HG4S
(4,8,9,13) (8,13)
matrix
pockets
0.01”
Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335
Fig. 9 shows the comparison of 1 overlap specimens with aligned
4
and staggered overlaps. The cut-out shows zoomed in image of an edge
of an overlap. Even though the overlap should in theory increase the
local thickness by twice the thickness of a ply, the same is not seen in
actual specimens. This is because of tow spreading due to compaction
and consolidation. The consequence of tow spreading is that tows are
tapered across the overlap region, as shown in the detail image. The
overlap however, does induce misalignment of adjoining plies, but the
misalignment is more gradual than in gap specimens. Also, there are no
gaps formed with overlaps.
The difference between the alignment of gaps versus staggering of
gaps is much more pronounced when the gap sizes are small. AFP
manufactured panels MG32A (aligned) and MG32S (staggered), have
designed gap size of 1 , as shown in Fig. 10. Since, the AFP panels were
32
manufactured with gaps in all the plies, including off-axis plies, there
can be cases where gaps align in all the layers, leading to a much deeper
undulation and consequently a larger misalignment of the zero plies, as
shown at the left-hand side of Fig. 10. Undulation is negligible in cases
where the defects are staggered, as is shown on the right-hand side
cutout of Fig. 10.
overlap features are similar to large overlap case. The ends of overlap
are tapered, and local thickness increase was observed. The thickness
increase is more pronounced in the aligned overlap cases than in the
case of staggered overlaps. Consequently, the misalignment was also
more pronounced in the aligned overlap case than in the case of stag-
gered, as seen in Fig. 11.
To summarize the influence of gap sizes and consolidation, Fig. 12 is
used as an illustration. In case of large gaps, unsupported plies above
the gap are pushed down due to compaction and autoclave pressure,
thereby creating a region of full attachment with bottom ply. The
pressure and bending of top ply also squeeze the end of the gap ply to
create tapered ends. On the other hand, when the gap is small, there is
partial attachment of the ply above and below the gap. Higher bending
stiffness works against the applied pressure and therefore, the ply above
does not fill the gap completely. However, the bottom ply deforms to fill
the gap thereby increasing the thickness of ply locally. In case of
overlap, as shown in Fig. 12, consolidation and autoclave pressure
decreases the thickness build up and tapers the ends of tows.
3.2.4. Defect quantification
The shape of the manufactured defect can be quantified; first is the
HG4S Fig. 8. Micrographs of 1
gap laminates.
4
(4,9)
gap
x
6
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

Fig. 9. Micrographs of 1
lap laminates.
4

HL4A HL4S HL4S Fig. 10. Micrographs of 1

gap laminates.
32
(4,8,9,13) (8,13) (4,9)

overlapping plies overlap

0.01”

no matrix pocket

x
z

MG32A MG32S Fig. 11. Micrographs of 1

lap laminates.
32
aligned 90° gaps
aligned +/-45° gaps local undulation
due to 90° gap

x
local undulation
y due to 45° gap

7
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

wider gaps: smaller gaps:

ply

matrix pocket
tapered end full attachment

overlap:

reduction in thickness pressure

geometry before curing

geometry after curing

Fig. 12. Consolidation process at gap and lap imperfections.

The undulation of plies have been quantified, measuring the max-

Gap
0.5 Lap imum angles of the 0° plies, as drawn in Fig. 14. The angles were
(inch)

Diagonal measured from the center lines, which were determined using the in-
terfaces bordering the plies. Fig. 15 shows the maximum absolute ply
ci

0.4 angle | |max , k (in the x-z plane) in the kth 0° ply for gap and overlap
consolidation induced defect size

specimens with aligned defects.

In gap specimens, larger angles occur in upper plies since defects are
0.3 stacked on top of each other, amplifying the undulation. Specimens
with a 1 gap tend to have larger undulation with measured maximum
2

0.2 angle about 10°. Even 1 gaps can induce large angles when many gaps
32
are aligned (up to 7°). In the ply stack, the first 0° ply has a slight
undulation with a maximum angle of around 1° . The first reason is the
0.1 thickening due to variation in pressure distribution during autoclave, as
mentioned earlier, especially for small gap sizes ( 1 ). The second
32
reason is residual stresses that cause a local deformation near the de-
0 fect. In general, lap defects induced smaller undulation than gaps. An
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
upward trend was observed (with higher ply position and increased
nominal defect size (inch)
N
overlap size), but not as severe as for gaps. Overlap defects of 1 size
32
Fig. 13. Measured consolidation-induced defect sizes. induce much smaller undulations than gaps.
The effect of defects can be diminished by staggering them. The
length of the defect and second the maximum misalignment of the 0°. maximum undulation among all plies within a specimen
Both parameters were obtained using microscopy and image proces- | |max = max (| |max , k ) is shown in Fig. 16. For gap specimens, the
k
sing. maximum undulation is greatly reduced when staggered. The effect is
The length of a defect before and after curing can vary due to the greater for gaps than for overlaps.
consolidation of plies as shown in the previous section. Therefore, post-
cure consolidation-induced defect sizes ci were measured and are 4. Tests
shown in Fig. 13 against pre-cure nominal defect size N . A diagonal is
shown for ci = N as the reference. Gap sizes are reduced due to con- Tensile and compressive tests of baseline and defect specimens were
solidation with almost consistent reduction for all gap size. On the other conducted to quantify the influence of defects on the performance of
hand, the overlap specimens show increase in defect length post curing the composite. Table 2 shows the test matrix, categorized based on test
for most specimens. type. In total, there are five variables that define the specimens: Defect
type (gap/ overlap), size ( 1 … 1 ), alignment (aligned/ staggered),
2 32
layout (plus/ minus) and loading type (tension/ compression). There
were a total 80 specimen configurations tested. Each test was repeated
three times for consistency.
z For tensile and compressive tests, the ASTM standards D3039 [13]
and D6641 [14] were used. All types of specimens used in this study are
x depicted in Fig. 17. The quasi-isotropic (balanced and symmetric)
tension specimens have a width of 1 , while the baseline specimens
Fig. 14. Schematic of angle measurement in 0° plies in a defect specimen. without defects have 8 plies and the defect ones have 16 plies.

8
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

11 11
th
4 0°ply
10 10
rd
3 0°ply
9 2
nd
0°ply 9

maximum angle | |max,k (deg)

1st 0°ply
8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
nominal gap size G,N
(inch) nominal lap size L,N
(inch)

Fig. 15. Maximum measured consolidation-induced angles in each ply for aligned defect specimens.

Specimens were cut from defect panels to provide (−) specimens with
0° defects and (+) specimens with both 0° and 90° defects (see Fig. 4 in
Section 2.3) for both tension and compression. Compression specimens
were designed for a combined loading compression (CLC) fixture [14]
with a gauge length of 0.5 . All compression specimens have a standard
width of 0.5 . Furthermore, compression tests have been conducted only
for imperfections smaller than the gauge length 0.5 , so as to avoid
global Euler buckling.
4.1. Specimen preparation
All specimens were tabbed to reduce stress concentrations due to
grip bite. The tabs were cut out of Garolite G-10 sheets with thicknesses
of 1 and 3 , for tension and compression respectively. For tension
8 32
specimens, the tabs were tapered to achieve a smooth introduction of
load into the specimen. The tabs and specimens were roughened in the
grip area to improve bonding. The tabs were glued to the specimens by
epoxy adhesives. The surface of the specimen was sprayed with a
random black and white speckle pattern for Digital Image Correlation
(DIC) measurement.
4.2. Testing procedure
Both tensile and compression tests were performed on a hydraulic
test frame by MTS System Corp. Quasi-static tests were conducted using
displacement loading with a ramp rate of 0.0006 in for tension and
s
0.0003 in for compression. The test setup is shown in Fig. 18.
s
The tension specimens were clamped between wedge grips, as
shown in Fig. 18. The fixtures were mounted on bolts at the upper and
bottom crossheads. The upper fixture was fixed, whereas the bottom
one could rotate freely to avoid torque effects. CLC fixture was mounted
on a hemispherical bearing which adjusts to any misalignment during
loading to ensure load path is centered. The specimen and the fixture
were precisely positioned in the center of the bearing and then held in
place with a switchable magnet.
Around the test frame, Digital Single Lense Reflex (DSLR) cameras
and lights were installed to capture the specimen for the DIC analysis.
Images were taken with interval shooting: 2 s for tension and 1 s for
compression according to the test duration. The cameras and the test
were synchronized. For a detailed failure observation, an additional
edge camera was installed.

11 11
Aligned
10 10
Staggered
9 9
maximum angle | |max (deg)

maximum angle | |max (deg)

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
nominal gap size G,N
(inch) nominal lap size L,N
(inch)

Fig. 16. Maximum measured consolidation-induced angles for aligned and staggered defect specimens (HL8S data not available).

9
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

Table 2
Test matrix (dimensions in inch).
Mfg Defect Tension Compression

Type Size Configuration Layup Gage Layup Gage

Hand-Layup baseline [+45/0/ 45/90]S 1 × 5 [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 0.5 × 0.5

gap/lap 1/2 A/S (−)/(+) [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 1 × 3 [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 0.5 × 0.5
gap/lap 1/4 A/S (−)/(+) [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 1 × 3 [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 0.5 × 0.5
gap/lap 1/8 A/S (−)/(+) [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 1 × 3 [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 0.5 × 0.5
AFP baseline [+45/0/ 45/90]S 1 × 5 [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 0.5 × 0.5
gap/lap 1/16 A/S (−)/(+) [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 1 × 3 [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 0.5 × 0.5
gap/lap 1/32 A/S (−)/(+) [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 1 × 3 [+45/0/ 45/90]2S 0.5 × 0.5

Tension specimen 8 plies

(baseline)

Tension specimen 16 plies

(defects)
y
Compression specimen 16 plies x

grip section grip section

gage section

Fig. 17. Specimen types and dimensions.

fixed upper
crosshead steel
plate

light and CLC

camera setup fixture
specimen
with fixtures magnet

x
ball bearing
wedge grips
bottom crosshead

Tension fixture
Compression fixture

Fig. 18. Test setups on the MTS machine. Left: Tensile test setup; right: CLC setup.

y
x average
Tension
for each stage

∆ 1 ∆ 2

z
x average ∆ 1 and ∆ 2
Compression
for each stage

Fig. 19. Digital image correlation (DIC) process for tensile and compressive tests.

10
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

Table 3 5.1. Baseline specimens

Tensile properties of the baseline (HB0 and MB0) laminates.
Property/ Laminate HB0 MB0 The tensile and compressive test results for the hand-layup (HB0)
and AFP layup (MB0) baseline laminates, without defects, are described
Average value Std. dev. Average value Std. dev. in this section. The tensile response of the baseline specimens was
consistent with a standard deviation of less than 3%, see Table 3. There
Tensile modulus Ex , T (ksi) 7539 2.2% 7571 1.5%
Tensile strength x , fT (ksi) 127.5 3.0% 127.8 0.6%
is virtually no difference in the properties between the hand layup and
machine layed up baseline laminates, as seen in Fig. 20.
In addition to the front facing DIC camera, an edge facing camera
4.3. Post-processing was used to capture the failure progression through the thickness. As
the pictures in Fig. 21 show, a few transverse cracks and a dominant
DIC analysis was performed with the GOM ARAMIS software to horizontal crack (along with loading direction) occur within the center
obtain a full field strain on the entire gauge section, as shown in Fig. 19. 90° plies. This is different from conventional un-toughened composites,
For the material characterization, the global strain was of interest, where transverse cracks are predominant, leading to high interlaminar
hence the average strain was calculated over the gauge area, i.e., axial stresses and initiation of delamination within the matrix-rich interface
strain x . For compressive tests, it was more suitable to use the dis- [15,16]. However, as for example shown in previous experiments with
placements to calculate global strain. Two lines (each with a column of toughened composites [11,12], toughened interfaces delay delamina-
facets) were defined near the ends of the gauge section to obtain the tion due to an increase in interlaminar toughness, hence promoting
average displacements. With the reference distance between the two other failure modes. Here, the horizontal crack in the 90° plies fluc-
lines, the strain can be determined: tuates within these two plies. It crosses the center interface without
inducing any inter-laminar delamination. This fracture occurring in the
=
x2 x1 central 90° plies, splits the laminate in half, as the load increases. The
x
l0 (1) separation becomes very large (0.225 from bottom to upper surface).
The separation area is illustrated in the sketch beside the failure image
while x is negative. For further analysis, the absolute values of load and in Fig. 21. With higher loading, the area spreads towards the center of
strain were used. the specimen, similarly to the experimental observations with un-
In this work, axial stress was calculated using the standard ply toughened composites by O’Brien [15], but as stated earlier, in un-
thickness tply, std = 0.0075 or laminate thickness nplies ·tply, std and the toughened laminates the horizontal crack resides within the matrix-rich
measured specimen width w: interlaminar region. In the current material system, intralaminar
P splitting (instead of classical delamination) is the main separation
x = mechanism. This failure progression was observed in both the hand and
nplies ·tply, std·w (2)
AFP-layup specimens. It should be noted that subsequent tests of
Mechanical properties were obtained from the stress-strain data. baseline laminates (HB0) with a shorter gage length of 2.5 (instead of
Strength is the maximum stress value at failure. Stiffness/ modulus is 5 ) show about 7% higher strength, compared with the 5 long speci-
the slope of a linear fit within a region without initial compliance or mens. This is because for shorter specimens, the separation area is
non-linearity. The strain range is usually 0.001–0.003 according to smaller than that seen in the longer specimens. It is speculated that the
ASTM standards [13]. For statistical measures, the mean values and same phenomenon will also be observed in specimens with defects.
standard deviations in percentage were calculated and recorded. Hand-layup and AFP baseline compression results are shown in
Fig. 22 as well as in Table 4. AFP baseline specimens have a lower
stiffness ( 7% ), but higher strength (+ 5%), compared to hand-laid
5. Observations and results laminates. Failure images of the baseline specimens are shown in
Fig. 22. The failure behavior is similar between HB0 and MB0. Fiber
Results for baseline, gap and overlap specimens are reported in the kinking and delamination can be observed in all cases. (See Table 5).
following sections. Representative plots are shown for each specimen
configuration and loading case. Failure modes and progression of the
same are also described.

D E
B C 8ply 8ply

Fig. 20. Stress-strain plots for baseline (HB0 and MB0) tensile tests.

11
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

z y

x x
A

B C

transverse first transverse first intra-laminar splitting

crack cracks

D
ply intra-laminar
splitting

separation
Fig. 21. Tensile failure behavior of a HB0 specimen with corresponding points in Fig. 20.

• 16ply • 16ply
• gage: 0.5” x 0.5” • gage: 0.5” x 0.5”

Fig. 22. Stress-strain plots and failure modes of baseline (HB0 and MB0) compressive tests.

Table 4 Table 5
Compressive properties of the baseline (HB0 and MB0) laminates. Mechanical properties of the lamina.
Property/Laminate HB0 MB0 Property Average value

average std. dev. average std. dev. Longitudinal modulus E1 (ksi) 19950
value value Transverse modulus E2 (ksi) 1230
Tangent shear modulus G12
t
(ksi) 523
Compressive modulus Ex , C 7539 4.2% 7011 1.4% Poisson’s ratio 12 (−) 0.3
(ksi)
Compressive strength x , fC 70.85 4.6% 74.72 5.0%
(ksi)

12
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

Reference A B C F

x
y

1/2"

Fig. 23. DIC images of an aligned HG2AM specimen under tensile loading.

1/2"

z
cracks within
B the 90 plies
x

delamination

catastrophic failure
after F

Fig. 24. Failure progression of an aligned HG2AM specimen under tensile loading.

5.2. Gap specimens location of staggered gaps. As a consequence of gaps, misalignment in

5.2.1. Effect of gaps on tensile properties
Influence of gaps on tensile tests is visible in the DIC images of
failure progression. Gaps induce localization of strain and thereby
failure of the specimen. Localization is more prominent in gaps of larger
sizes and at locations of maximum misalignment. Fig. 23, depict the
failure progression in a 1 gap specimen with each image from left to
2
right (A to F) depicting increased loading state till failure. Corre-
sponding to the DIC images, Fig. 24 shows the edge camera with
through-thickness damage progression. Through thickness damage
progression is similar to the one seen in baseline panels (Fig. 21).
However, the initiation of critical failure modes, i.e. delamination and
fiber breakage, is concentrated around the gap. The influence of gap is
more prominent when the gaps are staggered, Fig. 25, where multiple
failure initiation points are observed precisely corresponding to the
the zero plies tends to straighten out during tensile loading, leading to
significant shear and normal tensile load in the off-axis plies. This leads
to through-thickness cracks, that has the effect of separating layers.
The stress-strain plots for tensile tests are summarized in Fig. 26.
Furthermore, the mechanical properties as tensile stiffness and strength
are normalized and plotted against gap size in Figs. 27 and 28. For the
different specimen types, the nomenclature as defined in Fig. 3 (Section
2.4) is used.
In Fig. 26, one representative specimen for each configuration is
plotted. In the aligned-gap (−) configuration with only 0° gaps (see
Section 2.3 for the definitions), the plots are almost on top of each
other. It means the stiffness is barely affected by the gap in the trans-
verse direction, which becomes clear in Fig. 27 as well. The strength
does depend on the gap size (Fig. 28), while the effect of a 1 gap is
2
most severe and that of the other sizes is almost the same.

13
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

1/2" (gaps in plies 4,9) (gaps in plies 8,13) 1/2" (gaps in plies 4,9)

catastrophic failure
after E

Fig. 25. Failure progression of a staggered HG2S specimen under tensile loading.

(-) (+)
F

E
D
C

(-) (+)
E

C
B

Fig. 26. Representative tensile stress-strain plots of baseline and gap specimens.

14
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

(-) (+)

(-) (+)

Fig. 27. Normalized tensile stiffness of all gap specimens.

(-) (+)

(-) (+)

Fig. 28. Normalized tensile strength of all gap specimens.

The impact of a 0° gap is much more severe (aligned (+)), as all 1

properties depend significantly on the gap size. This is expected since
the 0° plies carry most of the load. The tensile stiffness is fairly linearly
reduced with larger defect size. The stiffness can reduce up to 60% with
gaps, while 1 and 1 gaps have almost no effect. Simple calcula-
2 16 32
tions using classical lamination theory (CLT) has been performed to
give an estimate of the effective tensile stiffness, where the change in 0°
fiber volume was taken into account (see B for details). The estimation

15
M.H. Nguyen, et al.
(-)
*
(-)
* insufficient data for HG4SM
Fig. 29. Representative compressive stress-strain plots of baseline and gap specimens.
agrees very well with the experimental data, which implies that CLT is
sufficient to predict the (tensile) stiffness. The strength is more difficult
to predict and more sensitive to imperfections, as shown in Fig. 28. The
maximum strength reduction is about 55%. The smallest gaps show a
strength reduction of 0%–20%.
The staggering technique reduced the impact of the gaps, for both
(−) and (+) specimens. A roughly linear dependency for stiffness and
strength can be observed, with a maximum reduction of about 20%.
The failure strain does not change significantly with the gap size.
5.2.2. Effect of gaps on compressive properties
Fig. 29 shows representative plots for all gap configurations under
compressive loading. In contrast to tensile test results, the compressive
response of aligned (−) specimens is quite sensitive to the imperfection
size. Here, the stress-strain curves are more spread out, which is usually
expected for staggered (both minus and plus) and aligned (+) speci-
mens with missing 0° fibers. The response of HG4AP specimens are
heavily diminished as expected, while HG4AP, however, seems to be an
outlier.
The compression results are summarized in Figs. 30 and 31 as
normalized values (with respect to HB0). It can be concluded that
compressive properties are more sensitive to imperfections studied here
than tensile properties. Even without 0° gaps, there is a stiffness re-
duction of about 30%, similar to staggered gaps. The strength is greatly
reduced by the imperfections: 30% for aligned (−) and 35% for stag-
gered gap configurations. Even the smallest gaps affect the compressive
16
Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335
(+)
(+)
strength. The results are due to the already mentioned asymmetry of the
laminates, which creates bending moments from inception of loading.
Post-compression micrographs of 1 and 1 specimens of aligned
4 32
and staggered configurations are shown in Fig. 32. The first detail to
notice is that failure is mainly due to kink banding and splitting failure,
as shown in the zoomed in details within images (a), (b) and (c). These
images bring out an important aspect of toughened interfaces, in that
delamination failure is not seen in any of the specimens. Instead, due to
toughening, splitting of the ply is seen. This is an example where one
failure mechanism (energy dissipation) is suppressed while another is
promoted, through the design of the microstructure, i.e. the interfaces
with toughening micro-particles.
These failures, as is expected, is concentrated at the edge of the
defect, which is indicated by red dashed lines. Through thickness lo-
cation of the failure is influenced by the location of the defect, with
aligned defects showing more localized vertical failure whereas stag-
gering causes through thickness failure to be more at an angle which is
true for both large and small defect sizes. The presence of a kink band is
a good indication that the compression test was not influenced by out-
of-plane deformation due to asymmetry in gap layup.
5.3. Overlap specimens
5.3.1. Effect of overlaps on tensile properties
The failure modes under tensile loading are similar to those of the
baseline specimens (HB0, MB0), i.e. transverse cracking and intra-
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

(-) (+)

(-) (+)

Fig. 30. Normalized compressive stiffness of all gap specimens.

(-) (+)

(-) (+)

Fig. 31. Normalized compressive strength of all gap specimens.

laminar splitting in the 90° plies (see Section 5.1). This is due to the fact All tensile tests are summarized with representative samples in
that overlap specimens do not have any interruptions in the 90° plies Fig. 33. Furthermore, normalized values of mechanical properties; vis-á-
which could disturb the crack propagation. vis; modulus and strength are plotted against overlap size (Figs. 34 and

17
M.H. Nguyen, et al.
HG4A
gap
fiber splitting
fiber kinking
(a)
MG32A
Fig. 32. Micrographs of failed compression gap specimens.
35). There is minimal effect on modulus in the case of aligned overlap
(−) specimen. It is observed that aligned (+) specimen shows an in-
crease in the modulus, with a maximum of close to 20% increase from
baseline in the case of a 0.5 overlap, which again could be attributed to
the fact that there are additional 0° fibers in the case of a (+) specimen.
The CLT estimate for the tensile stiffness is also plotted in Fig. 34 and
shows good agreement with most of the test results. As observed before,
staggered defects smear the effect. Since the % of overlap is approxi-
mately the same in case of staggered (+) and (−) specimens of the
same defect size, it is seen that the trend line of modulus is almost
identical in both these cases. Smaller overlaps minimally deteriorate the
modulus whereas larger overlaps increase the modulus between 10%
and 20%.
It is observed that strength in tension has minimal deterioration in
aligned(−) specimen whereas aligned (+) specimen show a marginal
increase in strength. Staggered (+) and (−) specimen show a sig-
nificant increase (around 20% for 0.5 overlap size) for larger overlaps
and marginal effect on strength for smaller overlaps.
5.3.2. Effect of overlaps on compressive properties
Fig. 36 shows representative plots for all overlap configurations
under compressive loading. Unlike tensile results, the compressive re-
sponses are similar for all overlap sizes for each configuration.
Normalized values of mechanical properties; vis-á-vis; modulus and
strength are plotted against overlap size (Figs. 37, 38). It is to be noted
that compressive tests are more sensitive to imperfections. Aligned (−)
specimens show minimal deterioration from machine benchmark spe-
cimens concerning modulus in compression, whereas aligned (+) show
improvement of stiffness. Since the gauge dimensions were 0.5 × 0.5
for CLC specimens, the largest overlap tested was 0.25 which showed
18
Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335
HG4S
(b)
(a)
(c)
(b)
MG32S
close to 10% increase in compressive stiffness. Which can be attributed
to the fact that there are more fibers in the 0° direction. Staggered (−)
specimens show little impact on modulus whereas staggered (+) spe-
cimens show marginal improvement in compressive stiffness with 0.25
staggered overlap showing close to 15% improvement in compressive
stiffness. This again, shall be attributed to the fact that the plies in
which 0° fibers are overlapping shall cause differences in the way how
the ply consolidates in the case of staggered (−) and (+) specimen, and
this impact is significantly different in case of larger defect sizes as
opposed to smaller overlaps.
It was observed that overlaps minimally impact strength in com-
pression in general except for the aligned (−) case. For aligned (−)
close to 20% deterioration is observed for 0.25 overlaps with all the
overlap sizes negatively affecting the compressive strength, whereas in
aligned (+) specimen we see a minimal effect even for larger overlap
sizes. Both staggered (−) and staggered (+) specimen have similar
strength pointing to a minimal impact of overlaps on compressive
strength. It is thus observed that staggering of defects could be a
standard technique in an actual composite structural production which
could only minimally impact the modulus and strength in compression.
As in the case of gaps, post-compression micrographs, Fig. 39 of
overlap specimen show kink banding and fiber splitting dominated
failure modes. The images show the location of overlaps with dashed
red lines, kink and split with red and blue arrows respectively. Here
again, the location and extent of failures are dependent on the location
of overlap, with staggered overlap showing a broader spread of point of
failure than with aligned overlaps. The mix of failure is also evident in
the zoomed in details provided in images (a) and (b).
M.H. Nguyen, et al.
(-)
* (-)
Fig. 33. Representative tensile stress-strain plots of baseline and overlap specimens (no HL8S data available).
5.4. Correlation between misalignment and strength
As misalignment of the 0° plies is suspected to be the main cause of
strength variation, in Fig. 40 the tensile and compressive strength are
plotted against the measured maximum 0° ply angle max . However, it
is noted that max may not be the only governing parameter influencing
the variation in strength due to defects.
Whereas stiffness is 0° fiber volume dominated, strength is influ-
enced both by the 0° fiber volume and undulation. Although trends
among each defect configuration may be not clear, an overall reduction
in strength can be seen with higher misalignment. Aligned gaps induce
largest undulations with the data points being on the right half side of
the plot, whereas staggered gap specimens and all lap specimens have
smaller undulations.
The data points of aligned gap (−) and lap (−) specimens in Fig. 40
(a) seem to line up, which indicates that tensile strength of (−) spe-
cimens predominantly depends on the ply misalignment and less on the
defect types that causes the misalignment. For aligned (+) and stag-
gered specimens, strength is also determined by fiber volume. The
aligned gap (+) specimens have an additional strength reduction due to
the lower 0° fiber volume. This is similar with the staggered gap spe-
cimens. Aligned lap (+) specimens, however, have additional 0° fibers
which mitigate the negative effect of the undulation. Staggered lap
specimens have least misalignment (in average). The positive effect of
additional 0° fibers seem to outweigh the negative effect of the
19
Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335
(+)
* (+)
* no HL8S data available
waviness.
Compressive strength is more sensitive to imperfections, as shown in
Fig. 40(b). Aligned (−) specimens show much greater reduction in
strength than for the tensile case. Aligned gap (+) specimens experi-
ence a great reduction in strength due to reduced 0° fibers, aligned lap
(+) and staggered lap samples perceive a slight mitigation due to ad-
ditional 0° fibers. However, the additional 0° fibers in overlaps do not
have such a great positive effect as it has for the tensile case.
6. Concluding remarks
The results from a systematic experimental study to investigate the
influence of gap and overlap imperfections on composite laminate
properties have been presented. Panels were manufactured manually
and by AFP machines with controlled imperfection sizes ranging from
1
to 1 , which represent the range of imperfections typically seen in
2 32
AFP manufacturing. Pre-test microscopy was conducted to study the
influence of gaps and overlaps on the local structure of laminates,
misalignment of plies, and the geometry of resin pockets. Tensile and
compressive tests were conducted to find the influence of the MS on the
stiffness and strength of laminates. Digital Image Correlation and edge
imaging techniques were used to study the progression of failure during
tests. Post-test microscopy was conducted to examine compressive
failure modes.
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

(-) (+)

(-) (+)

Fig. 34. Normalized tensile stiffness of all lap specimens.

(-) (+)

(-) (+)

Fig. 35. Normalized tensile strength of all lap specimens.

A list of key conclusions of this study is as follows: gap, creating misalignment, and also creating a resin rich pocket.
Plies on the edges of gaps become tapered.
• The size of gap reduces post curing due to consolidation and auto- • In the case of overlaps, the length of the overlap increases due to
clave pressure. Plies above and below the defect tend to fill out the consolidation and compaction. This reduces the overall thickness

20
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

(-) (+)

* *

(-) (+)

* no data for HL8S available

Fig. 36. Representative compressive stress-strain plots of baseline and overlap specimens.

and misalignment due to overlaps. There are no resin pockets In summary, the type and distribution of imperfections can sig-
formed in overlaps. nificantly influence the performance of composite laminates. As these
• Due to toughened interfaces, delamination is suppressed, however, a imperfections are a natural consequence of any manufacturing process,
significant horizontal splitting of plies is seen during failure of an understanding of the influence of imperfections (i.e. the MS) is cri-
specimens under tensile and compressive loading. tical to imperfection tolerant design.
• Aligning or staggering of imperfections has a significant influence
on the test results. Staggering almost always shows a lower knock-
Declaration of Competing Interest
down in strength.
• Tensile stiffness and strength show a strong correlation with gap
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
size. The knock-down trend in general increases with the size of
gaps. Stiffness can drop down to 60% and strength to 45% for gap
sizes of 1 . Acknowledgments

•
2
Compressive stiffness and strength also show a strong correlation
The authors would like to thank ElectroImpact Inc, for manu-
with gap size. The knock-down trend in general increases with the
facturing of the AFP panels. The authors would also like to acknowl-
size of gaps. Stiffness and strength can drop down to 45% for gap
edge support in manufacturing, testing, and microscopy by Bao Ngo,
sizes of 1 . University of Washington Dept of Materials Science & Engineering. We
•
4
Tensile stiffness and strength of overlap specimens on the other would also like to thank Mianzhi Zhou, University of Washington Dept
hand show marginal increase with overlap size with an increase of of Mechanical Engineering, for his help with test preparation and DIC.
around 20% for both stiffness and strength with an overlap size of 1 . Much of the reported study was performed at the University of
•
2
Compressive stiffness and strength of overlap specimens overall Washington, Dept of Aeronautics and Astronautics as part of Joint
show less significant influence of overlaps. Center Aerospace Technology Innovation (JCATI) grant.

21
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

(-) (+)

(-) (+)

Fig. 37. Normalized compressive stiffness of all lap specimens.

(-) (+)

(-) (+)

Fig. 38. Normalized compressive strength of all lap specimens.

22
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

HL4A HL4S
(b)

(a)

overlap

fiber splitting

fiber kinking
(a) (b)

ML32A ML32S

Fig. 39. Micrographs of failed compression lap specimens.

laps

laps

gaps
gaps

(a) (b)

Fig. 40. Tensile (a) and compressive (b) strength vs. maximum 0° ply misalignment.

Appendix A. Manufacturing details

A.1. Automated fiber placement (AFP) manufacturing

Panels for this study was manufactured using AFP machines at Electroimpact Inc. A CNC controlled robot arm with a modular head carrying eight
spools of slit tapes (also called tows) of Toray T800S/3900 prepreg were used.
In order to lay down the material, the tows are fed simultaneously into a roller. The first ply is laid down on a tool surface. Subsequent plies are
laid down on already placed material. A heating coil that is mounted on the roller head ensures tackiness of the material. Fig. A.41 illustrates the AFP
manufacturing process in detail. Fig. A.41(c) shows identifiable individual slit tapes as they are laid down on the tool surface. Once cured the

23
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

Fig. A.41. AFP manufacturing and parameters. a) Robotic arm with modular head b) Roller head during placement c) Close-up of manufacturing d) Slit-tapes being
fed into roller head e) Schematic of the lay-up process.

Fig. A.42. Cure cycle.

boundaries merge to form a monolithic structure. Fig. A.41(d) shows fiber tows being fed into the roller head. It is to be noted that the distance
between the cutter and the roller head is approximately 4 (see Fig. A.41(e)).

A.2. Curing

Each panel is vacuum sealed using standard bagging assembly. While applying a vacuum with a vacuum pump, any wrinkles or bubbles was
removed as much as possible. The tacky tape can be pressed using a hand roller. The vacuum pressure was held below 28 Hg after the vacuum pump
was turned off. The consistency of vacuum was check by measuring the rate of vacuum decay such that the system did not lose 2 Hg of pressure over
5 min. The entire assembly was placed inside an autoclave chamber, and cured using the manufacturer recommended cure cycle, as shown in Fig.
A.42. The autoclave and the panels were left to cool down to room temperature before the laminates were removed from the assembly.

Appendix B. Stiffness estimation using classical lamination theory (CLT)

In order to check if the tests were correctly performed, a simple calculation with classical lamination theory (CLT) was used as a first estimation

24
M.H. Nguyen, et al. Composite Structures 228 (2019) 111335

of the effective (tensile) stiffness Ex of the tested laminates, which can be calculated by [17]:
1
Ex =
hA11 (3)
while h is the laminate height and a11 is the first entry of the inverted ABD matrix:
1
A B A B
=
C D B D (4)
while A, B and D are the laminate stiffness matrices. The lamina properties used are: The moduli E1, E2, G12 and Poisson ratio 12 . E1, E2 and 12 were
obtained by unidirectional tests as part of this work, and G12 was measured from the shear response of the lamina, which was obtained by ± 45°
tensile tests in previous works [11,12].
Fig. B.43 shows a simple procedure to apply CLT on a gap specimen. In this calculation, only the 0° gaps were taken into account, the waviness
due to 90° were not considered here. The idea is to homogenize the 0° plies and smear the fiber volume over the width w. As a consequence, the
elastic lamina properties change, which can be determined by micro-mechanical models. However, the analysis was kept simple, as only the change
of E1 and 12 was taken into account. For a ratio
r = (w + )/w (5)

r=1+
w (6)

Fig. B.43. Homogenization for CLT calculation.

where = G is the defect size for gaps, = L for laps and w the specimen thickness, the smeared fiber volume fraction reduces to Vf = r· Vf . Then,
the rule of mixture [17] yields:

E1 = E1f Vf + E m (1 Vf ) (7)

E1 = E1f rVf + E m (1 rVf ) (8)

E1 r ·E1 (9)
and
12 r· 12 (10)

Appendix C. Supplementary data

Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, athttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2019.111335.

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