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EFFECTS OF DEFECTS ON INTERLAMINAR PERFORMANCE OF COMPOSITES

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 EFFECTS OF DEFECTS ON INTERLAMINAR PERFORMANCE OF COMPOSITES

Andrew Makeev*, Yuri Nikishkov, Guillaume Seon, and Erian Armanios

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, U.S.A.

Abstract
This work presents a methodology for accurate assessment of the effects of manufacturing defects on the
interlaminar tensile (ILT) strength and fatigue performance of composites used in rotorcraft fatigue-critical
structural designs. A primary failure mechanism for such structures is delamination. Although the ILT strength
and fatigue material properties are essential for the development of analytical predictive methods for initiation of
delamination at sites that give rise to interlaminar stresses, there are no reliable methods to determine such
properties. A major technical challenge is the extreme sensitivity of the ILT to manufacturing defects including
porosity that could lead to unacceptable scatter in test results. In this work, X-Ray Computed Tomography (CT)
measurements of porosity defects present in curved-beam test articles, are integrated into finite element based
stress analysis to capture the effects of defects on the ILT strength and fatigue behavior. Once the effects of
manufacturing defects are captured through transfer of the CT measurements into a three-dimensional finite
element model, their contribution to the scatter in the test data could be quantified, and reliable interlaminar
material properties determined. The ability to extract accurate ILT material properties from curved-beam tests is
verified through an alternative short beam test configuration and method. The proposed test provides a basis for
assessing the effects of defects.

1. INTRODUCTION1 the residual capability and the useful life of these

Currently, composite structural designs are based
upon the same factor of safety as that of metals, 1.5,
to determine the ultimate design load from limit load.
This is in spite of the susceptibility of composite parts
to variations in manufacturing processes compared to
metal parts. In addition to material variation in the
resin content, bulk factor, and fiber alignment, part
fabrication process variations such as operator skill,
tooling setup, humidity fluctuation and equipment
control, are common causes that contribute to
variation in part quality. Consequently, the increased
sensitivity of composite part quality to material and
process variations lowers production yields.
Production yields of greater than 90% remain a “hit-
and-miss” target [1].
The effects of manufacturing process parameters on
structural strength and durability are not well
understood. In particular, the effects of inadequate
design method and manufacturing process used to
produce carbon/epoxy and glass/epoxy composite
aircraft fatigue-critical, flight-critical components,
result in defects such as porosity and voids, impacting
1
Presented at the 39th European Rotorcraft Forum,
Moscow, Russia, September 3-6, 2013. Submitted to
Journal of American Helicopter Society.
*
Corresponding author, e-mail: makeev@uta.edu.
components.
Manufacturing defects can severely deteriorate matrix-
dominated properties, resulting in degraded strength
and fatigue structural performance. While it is not
feasible to eliminate all defects in a composite part, it
is possible to improve upon desing conservatism and
address part durability and damage tolerance
requirements once the defects and their effects are
captured. Advanced structural methods that account
for manufacturing defects in composite parts are
needed to enable accurate assessment of their
capability and useful life and enhance current design
and maintenance practices.
One of the major barriers to accurately predict failure
for polymer-matrix composites has been the lack of
reliable matrix-dominated material properties which
could be used as a basis for the development of
accurate failure criteria [2, 3]. In particular,
interlaminar tensile (ILT) strength and fatigue
properties have been challenging to characterize.
Accurate measurements of ILT strength and fatigue
performance characteristics are needed to capture
delamination failure which is one of the primary failure
modes for rotorcraft composites. Glass-fiber and
carbon-fiber reinforced epoxy-matrix prepreg
composites, susceptible to delamination, are most
commonly used in the design of rotorcraft composite
structures.
Helicopter rotor systems are subject to extreme cyclic
loads. The fatigue capability is a limiting factor for
high-cycle components in dynamic systems [4].
Typical examples of the fatigue-critical primary
composite structures include main rotor blade spars
and yokes in commercial and military helicopters [5].
The primary failure mechanism for such structures is
delamination. Accurate ILT and interlaminar shear
(ILS) fatigue material properties integrated in reliable
failure criteria are essential for the development of
predictive methods able to capture fatigue
delamination. In particular, Reference [3] successfully
used ILT and ILS S-N fatigue curves in the formulation
of stress-based and fracture-based fatigue failure
criteria to predict the onset and propagation of matrix-
dominated failure modes including delaminations.
However, the development of failure prediction
methods is currently limited by the lack of reliable ILT
material properties.
A major technical challenge to characterizing ILT
behavior is extreme sensitivity to manufacturing
defects including porosity that could lead to significant
scatter in test results. Composite helicopter rotor
components are typically thick and oftentimes have
areas with tight radius of curvature [4], which make
them especially prone to porosity defects. Test
articles representative of curved structural details in
composite parts, adopted by the rotorcraft industry,
are prime candidate to better understand the effects of
porosity. However, there is no consensus on the
accept/reject criteria for assessing the effects of
porosity on strength and fatigue performance. It has
been determined that porosity volume content is not a
reliable basis for capturing the effects of defects.
A relatively simple test specimen that could become a
standard across the industry for characterizing
porosity in composite structures, along with the
analysis methodology able to determine the key
elements for capturing of the effects of defects on
structural performance, would be extremely beneficial.
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no
standard test methods for the assessment of ILT
fatigue performance in composites. However, there
are two American Society for Testing and Materials
(ASTM) standard methods for measuring ILT strength.
Currently, ASTM D 6415 curved-beam (CB) test is a
standard practice for measuring the ILT strength [6].
Figure 1 shows a typical CB test setup for a 6.6 mm
(0.26-inch) thick unidirectional carbon/epoxy tape
system. The failure mode is tensile delamination that
starts in the radius area, typically at about two third of
the thickness corresponding to the maximum
interlaminar tensile stress location, and quickly
propagates through the flanges. ASTM D 6415
provides a closed-form approximation of the ILT
strength [6–8].
20 mm
Figure 1. ASTM D 6415 test setup and tensile
delamination failure of a unidirectional IM7/8552
carbon/epoxy CB specimen. Dashed lines indicate
the area subject to CT scanning.
The authors measured ASTM D 6415 CB strength for
multiple unidirectional carbon-fiber and glass-fiber
reinforced epoxy-matrix prepreg tape composites.
Based on their experience, the curved-beam strength
data typically exhibit large scatter. For example, for
6.6 mm (0.26-inch) thick CB coupons manufactured
from Hexcel IM7/8552 unidirectional tape [9] and
cured per manufacturer’s specifications, the average
ASTM D 6415 interlaminar tensile strength value
varies between 68.9 MPa (10 ksi) and 82.7 MPa (12
ksi) with a coefficient of variation (COV) usually higher
than 20%. This raises doubts concerning the
adequacy of the ASTM D 6415 standard as a coupon-
independent test for measuring ILT material strength.
Large scatter in material characterization test results
may reflect manufacturing quality as much as the
material properties.
Another method for assessing the ILT strength is
ASTM D 7291 which applies a tensile force normal to
the plane of a composite laminate using adhesively
bonded thick metal end-tabs [10]. As noted in Ref
[10], through-the-thickness strength results generated
using this method will not, in general, be comparable
to ASTM D 6415 since ASTM D 7291 subjects a
relatively large volume of material to a quasi-uniform
stress field while ASTM D 6415 subjects a small
volume of material to a non-uniform stress field.
Moreover, characterizing ILT strength using ASTM D
7291 is perhaps more challenging than ASTM D 6415
as failure could occur in the bond lines between the
composite and the metal end-tabs.
Carbon/epoxy CB specimen configurations were
studied in Ref [11] to establish a method for assessing
ILT strength. It was noted that “Strength data
obtained from curved beam test specimens can be
very relevant to the design process. Specimens with
curved geometries present unique manufacturing
problems that do not occur in flat panels.
Consequently, failure modes and strengths obtained
from curved beam specimens with manufacturing
flaws will closely resemble those in the actual
structure with similar flaws. However, if a specimen
does not contain any significant flaws, a true material
property may be measured.” Reference [11] recorded
a significant CB strength reduction (up to a factor of
four) in low-quality CB specimens due to large voids
detected based on a cross-section cut using a
diamond saw. However, large scatter in the strength
data observed in high-quality CB specimens could not
be explained due to the lack of available three-
dimensional nondestructive inspection techniques with
micro-focus ability at that time. This work shows that
microscopic defects present in high-quality CB
specimens (with extremely low porosity content)
cause large scatter in curved-beam strength and
fatigue behavior.
The objective of this work is to develop efficient and
accurate methods to capture the effects of porosity on
the ILT strength and fatigue material behavior. Once
the effects of manufacturing defects are understood,
their contribution to the scatter in test data could be
quantified, and reliable material properties extracted.
ADTM D 6415 CB specimens are well suited for
assessing the effects of porosity on ILT strength and
fatigue performance. Porosity can be easily
introduced in the CB specimens; the CB radius area
susceptible to delamination onset is far away from the
attachments of the test fixture; and the nondestructive
inspections can be limited to that area. Therefore,
such specimens could arguably be the most suitable
candidates to assess the effects of porosity on ILT
strength and fatigue behavior.
The ability to extract accurate ILT material properties
from CB tests must first be verified. To this end, the
recently developed short-beam (SB) method [12] is
expanded to enable measurement of the ILT strength
for pristine material structure; and establish a rigorous
basis for assessing the effects of manufacturing
defects in the CB specimens. It is worth noting that
failure of a SB specimen also occurs due stressing
small volume of material. As the manufacturing
process to produce flat SB specimens is simpler
compared to CB specimens, the SB specimens are
relatively free of defects and can potentially be used
as a baseline for determining ILT material strength.
2. SHORT-BEAM METHOD
Short-beam (SB) specimens are prismatic coupons
with uniform rectangular cross-sections and subject to
three-point bending. Reference [12] provides the
details of the methodology for assessing multiple
stress-strain constitutive relations, based on the SB
tests and the digital image correlation (DIC) technique-
based deformation measurement. The dimensions of
the SB coupons and the test fixture attachments were
modified compared to ASTM D 2344 [13] in order to
generate accurate stress-strain curves as well as
consistent failure modes [12, 14]. SB test coupons
have been machined in the zero-degree and 90-
degree directions from unidirectional tape panels and
loaded in the 1-2 (in-ply), 1-3 (interlaminar) and 2-3
principal material planes to characterize the shear
stress-strain relations; Young’s moduli in the zero-
degree and 90-degree directions; and Poisson’s
ratios. The fiber direction is denoted as 1 (zero-
degree); the in-ply transverse direction as 2 (90-
degree); and the laminate thickness direction as 3
(interlaminar direction.)
To characterize ILT material properties in this work,
six SB specimens were machined in the thickness
direction from a 106-ply thick IM7/8552 carbon/epoxy
unidirectional tape panel cured at 177⁰C (350⁰F) per
prepreg manufacturer’s specifications [9]. The cured
ply-thickness was approximately 0.183 mm (0.0072 in)
resulting in 19.4-mm (0.76-in) panel thickness. The
SB specimen length was 19.4-mm (0.76-in). The
coupons were 3.8-mm (0.15-in) thick, and 2.8-mm
(0.11-in) wide. The coupon thickness corresponds to
the in-ply 90-degree principal material direction; and
the 2-3 principal material plane is the plane of loading.
Figure 2 shows a schematic of a SB coupon and the
loading conditions.
3 (Laminate thickness)
ct i
on
e 2
r dir
be 1
Fi
Delamination onset
Figure 2. A SB coupon machined from a thick plate in
the interlaminar (thickness) direction; loading
conditions; and the interlaminar tensile failure.
To assess the ILT strength, the SB specimens were
placed in an ASTM D 2344 test fixture with a 12.7-mm
(0.5-inch) diameter loading nose and 3.18-mm (0.125-
inch) diameter supports; and loaded in an
electromechanical load frame at a constant 1.27
mm/min (0.05 in/min) crosshead displacement rate till
failure. It is worth noting that the ASTM standard
loading nose diameter is 6.35 mm (0.25 inches). The
support length was 14.99 mm (0.59 inches). All SB
specimens failed in tension in the middle of the
specimen as schematically shown in Figure 2. The
average failure load value was 209 N (47 lbs), which
was too low to introduce any compressive damage
under the lloading nose
e or near th
he lower support
locations.
All couponss exhibited similar beha avior. Figu ure 3
shows typ pical Lagran nge surface e strain te ensor
componentss measured right before failure using g the
digital image correlation n (DIC) technnique for fulll-field
measureme ent of surfacee deformation n. The read der is
referred to [15] for a ge eneral descrription of the DIC
technique, and to [12 2] for more specific de etails
pertinent to this work. In addition, it is worth noting
n
that the strain contou ur plots in Figure 3 were
generated w with the VIC C-3D software e [15]. The DIC
strain analyysis used a subset (datta point) sizze of
31×31 pixells, correspon nding to appproximately 0.227
0
mm2 for thesse particular tests. Data were obtaine ed on
7 pixel centters, resulting
g in approxim
mately 6,000 data
points per lo
oad case.
The strain ddistributions in Figure 3 are
a well within n the
linear elasticc range [12]. Also the SBB coupons exxhibit
linear throug ain 33 distrib
gh-the-thickness axial stra bution
throughout, including the e cross sectio
on correspon nding
to the failuree location. This
T ation can be used
observa
to derive siimple closed d-form approxximations for the
maximum axxial normal stress in the SBS coupon [12]

ure 3. Lagrange surface strain

Figu s tensor componentss
MH
H PL WH 3 meaasured right before
b delamiination failure
e.
 33  , M , I (1)
2I 4 12 3. COMPARISO
ON WITH CU
URVED-BEA
AM TEST
where P denotes the ap pplied force, M,
M the mome ent, L RESULTS
the support length, and d H and W denote
d the cross
c Ten 36-ply thick IM7/8552 un nidirectional CB couponss
section thickkness and width, respectivvely. weree manufactured and tes sted to comp pare the ILTT
Equations (1
1) applied to the SB couppons tested in
n this stren
ngth with the e short-beamm tests results. The CB B
work yield a 115.1 MPa M (16.7 ksi) (COV 3%) couppons were manufacture ed per AST TM D 6415 5
approximatio
on for the ILT
T strength. speccifications [66], except foor the width, which wass
reduuced from 25 5.4 mm (1 in)) to 12.7 mm m (0.5 in). A
To verify the accuracy of the closed d-form ILT stress
s 6.6 mm (0.26 in)) flat flange thickness
t corresponds to o
approximatio on, a line ear three-dimensional finite 0.1883 mm (0.007 72 in) cured-p
ply thickness similar to thee
element mo odel was built in the ABA AQUS comme ercial SB coupons.
c Th
he average cured
c ply thicckness in the
e
finite elemennt analysis code [16]. Th he average faailure radiu
us of the CB specimenss was up to o 5% higherr
load value, the short-be eam specime en dimension ns as commpared to the flat flanges. A CB lamin nate was laid
d
well as the attachment locations and d sizes are listed
l on a male tool (an angle bracket),
b and a matching g
earlier in thhis Section. The finite e element model
m fema ale tool (anotther angle-brracket) was placed
p on top
p
accurately simulated the t loading nose and the of th
he laminate and
a cured in an autoclave e. The outerr
supports inccluding the contact area a [12, 14]. The cornner of the ma ale bracket haad approxima ately 6.4 mm
m
following ma aterial constitutive properrties were utilized (0.255 in) radius and the inn ner corner off the female e
[14]: E11 = 1
157 GPa (22.7 Msi); E22 = E33 = 8.96 GPa braccket had app proximately 12.7
1 mm (0.5 in) radius..
(1.3 Msi); ν12
1 = ν13 = 0.3
32; ν23 = 0.5;; G12 = G13 = 5.08 Thesse two brac ckets forme ed the innerr and outerr
GPa (0.7377 Msi); and G23 = 2.99 GPa G (0.433 Msi). surfa
aces and co orners of the e curved-bea am laminate..
The reader is referred to [14] for the details
d of the finite After the laminatte was cured d, it was cut into curved--
element meesh. The finitte element an nalysis resultted in beam m coupons. Figure 1 sh hows the AS STM D 6415 5
a 116.5 MP Pa (16.9 ksi)) interlaminar tensile stre ength test setup and te ensile delam
mination failurre. All staticc
value whichh was similarr to the 115.1 MPa (16.7 7 ksi) speccimens were tested at the standard 1.27 1 mm/min n
closed-form approximatio on (1). (0.055 in/min) displacement ra ate, and exhibited similarr
beha avior.
It is worth noting
g that the CB
B specimens used in thiss
workk are 12.7-mmm (0.5-inch)) wide althou
ugh ASTM D
6415 recommends 25.4-mm (1-inch) width. The width
has been reduced based upon previous tests of both
25.4-mm (1-inch) and 12.7-mm (0.5-inch) wide CB
specimens which resulted in similar interlaminar
strength values as well as scatter. Specifically, the
most recent batch of six 1-inch wide and 6.60-mm
(0.26-inch) thick unidirectional IM7/8552 CB tests
conducted by the authors resulted in an average
ASTM D 6415 ILT strength of 77.2 MPa (11.2 ksi) and
a 21.4% COV which are close to the 72.5 MPa (10.5
ksi) ILT strength and the 26.5% COV resulting from
the 12.7-mm (0.5-inch) wide CB specimens of the
same thickness, tested in this work.
The average 72.5 MPa (10.5 ksi) ASTM D 6415 CB
strength value is significantly lower compared to the
116.5 MPa (16.9 ksi) value generated based on the
SB tests. Also, the 26.5% COV in the CB strength is
more than eight times higher compared to the 3%
COV in the ILT strength reported from the SB tests.
4. REFINEMENT OF THE CURVED-BEAM
METHOD TO ACCOUNT FOR POROSITY
ASTM Standard D 6415 underscores the sensitivity of
measured ILT strength to void content. Consequently,
the test results may reflect manufacturing quality as
much as material properties [6]. An industrial
computed tomography (CT) system with a 225 KV
Microfocus X-ray tube and Varian 4030E series flat
panel detector, built by North Star Imaging, Inc. was
utilized in this work to detect porosity in the CB test
specimens. The micro-CT scans were accomplished
at 40 kV tube voltage and 400 μA target current at 0.5
frames per second and 10.5x magnification resulting
in 0.5Χ10-3 in (12 μm) scan resolution. The dashed
lines in Figure 1 outline the area of the CT scan.
Specimen cross-sectional images were obtained from
the 3D volumetric model reconstructed in the efX-CT
software by North Star Imaging. About 1,000 through-
the-width section images, approximately 1200×1600
pixels in size, were used for void detection in each
specimen. Void identification, classification and
measurement were performed by the Numerical
Technology Company software. The software applied
binary threshold transformation based on the pixel
intensity found at local minima between air and
material peaks on the pixel histogram (representing
the number of pixels at a given intensity) for the full
scan volume; and then used object labeling and
elliptical shape fitting for void measurements and
calculation of the porosity volume. The CT based
measurements were conducted on all ten 12.7-mm
(0.5-inch) wide specimens.
W
T
L
W L
T T
Figure 4. Void geometry in CB specimen 6.
Figure 4 shows examples of voids found in a
representative CB specimen. Voids typically have the
largest aspect ratios in the fiber direction resulting in
thin curved shapes, and often degenerating into
noodle-like shapes. Void thickness was found to be
the smallest void dimension in all specimens. This
geometry can be attributed to the expansion of air
pockets that exhibit the largest resistance, in the
thickness direction, due to curing pressure. It is worth
noting that the porosity content in the CB specimens
was low, e.g. the porosity content in the laminate
thickness-based 6.6 × 6.6 × 6.6 mm3 (0.26 × 0.26 ×
0.26 in3) cube volumes throughout the CT scans in the
CB radius area was less than 0.12%. However, it is
not the volume but the presence of individual voids at
critical locations that reduces failure loads and causes
large scatter.
The porosity volume alone is not sufficient for
describing the effects or severity of voids. Indeed, a
single large void located close to the mid-plane in the
CB radius area is worse than a few dispersed smaller
voids that add up to the same total volume.
Reference [17] indicates that the porosity volume often
does not correlate well with the degradation in
structural performance.
Post-failure CT scans of the CB specimens confirmed
that delamination progresses through longer voids
located around the mid-section of the specimens.
Figure 5 shows typical cracks in a representative
failed specimen. For all specimens, critical voids were
identified in the CT scans before specimen failure and
confirmed as the origin of delamination in the
corresponding post-failure CT scans. Critical voids
are located in the vicinity of the maximum interlaminar
tensile stress (about two third of the thickness in the
middle of the radius area). Table 1 lists the geometry
and reference locations of the critical voids.
 Failure lo
oad 210 lbs Failure lo
oad 416 lbs distrribution in a CB coupon is non-u uniform, the
e
location of critica
al void has an impact on o the failure
e
load
d and explain ns the scatterr in the data presented in
n
Figu
ure 6.
Critical
void

De
elamination

Figure 5. E
Examples of CT slices showing sections of
CB specimeens 6 (left) an
nd 7 (right) aftter failure.

Table 1. Ge
eometry and locations
l of ccritical voids in the Figuure 6. Depen ndency of CB
B failure load
d on the area
a
CB specim men radius area.
a The radial
r locatio
on is of th
he critical void
d.
measured frrom the outerr radius, and the hoop loccation
is measuredd from the apex of the curved
c part of
o the The combined effects of the t void ge eometry and d
specimen. location are capttured by the FE analysis of the stresss
conccentration ne ear the critica
al void unde er the known n
ength Width,
Spec Void Le Thickness Radial Hooop appllied failure load. C
CT measure ements are e
mm (miil) mm (mil)) mm (mil) loc.,% loc., transsferred into FEM by using ABAQU US scriptingg
t
thickness degrees
capa ability [16] to automaticallyy build a structured three--
1 1.5 (5
57) 0.7 (28) 0.14 (5.4) 86 0
0.2 dime ensional loca al mesh of the volume around the e
criticcal void. Voids
V are represented by b a tri-axiall
2 4.8 (190) 1.3 (49) 0.19 (7.4) 78 3
39
ellipssoid defined d by the thickness and two aspectt
3 56)
1.4 (5 0.5 (18) 0.23 (9.0) 53 2
26 ratio
os in the fibe er and width h directions asa shown in n
4 0.7 (2
28) 0.5 (18) 0.19 (7.4) 40 -16
- Figuure 7. Linear 8-noded hexxagonal 3D e elements withh
redu uced integrattion scheme (C3D8R) were w used in
n
5 2.6 (100) 1.2 (47) 0.19 (7.4) 43 -1.3 the model. A typical total number of degrees off
6 5.6 (2
220) 2.4 (94) 0.19 (7.4) 43 2
2.9 freed dom (DOF) fallsf within a 500K-800K
5 r
range. Meshh
refin
nements are e defined around the e void and d
7 1.7 (6
68) 0.7 (28) 0.19 (7.4) 41 -5
convvergence of o local stresses
s waas verified..
8 0.21 (8.1)
( 0.3 (12) 0.07 (2.9) 52 2
2.3 Disp placements frrom the glob bal model off the curved--
9 0.27 ((11) 0.17 (6.8
8) 0.05 (1.9) 57 18
beam m specimen n at failure e load are applied ass
boun ndary condittions for the e six faces of the locall
10 0.6 (2
25) 0.22 (8.7
7) 0.03 (1.3) 72 -5
5.5 mod del volume. A FE mesh h for the glob bal model iss
Avg 1.9 (7
76) 0.8 (31) 0.15 (5.8) 57 6
6.1 illusttrated in Fig gure 7 and includes a to otal of 560K
K
DOF F using C3D8 8R hexagona al elements. Frictionlesss
conttact was pres scribed betwe een the speciimen and the e
Figure 6 shoows the trend in the failu ure load redu uction supp port rollers modeled
m as rigid surface es. The non--
as a function of the void area. The failure
f loads were linea arity associa ated with la arge displace ements wass
normalized by 3.21 kN (722( lbs) corrresponding to o the incluuded.
failure load of an idea alized CB specimen
s without
porosity. To calculate thet failure load in the priistine
CB coupn, a 116.5 MPa a (16.9 ksi) IL
LT strength value
v
was used ba ased on the SB tests. DataD suggests s that
the failure load decre eases propo ortionally to the
negative powwer of the vooid area. A 6..45 mm2 (0.01 in2)
void located
d in the critical area resullts in almost 60%
reduction in the failure lo
oad according to this tren nd. It
is worth noting that the lo
ocations of thhe critical voiids in
the radius a
area of CB sp pecimens varry in the thickkness
and hoop directions. As the interlaminar tensile stress
s
 Interlaminar Tensile Stress Interlaminar S
Shear Stress

ure 8. Locations of the maximum

Figu m ILT
T stress (left))
and the maximum m shear stresss (right) at th
he surface off
the critical
c void.
Figure 7. 3D structure
ed FE meshh examples for
f a
global mode
el of the CB nd the local sub-
B coupon an
model .

Figure 8 de emonstrates that ILT stre ess concentrration

develops att the edge ofo the void alonga the lon
ngest
dimension. The maxim mum stress concentratio on is
typically fou
und at surfacce locations correspondin ng to
about the mid-length of the void. Ana alysis of CT scans
s
confirms thaat delamination initiates ata this locatio
on as
shown in the zoomed-in n area in Figu ure 5. It is worth
w
noting that while the loccal FE analyysis approxim mated
the voids asa tri-axial ellipsoids
e in order to obtain
o
converged mesh-indepe endent stressses, the actual
a
void shape vvaried, especcially in the le
ength-width plane.
p
The CT sca ans have shoown that in mostm of the cases
c ure 9. ILT sttress versus the radial distance from
Figu m
delaminationns start cloose to the maximum width w the void
v surface.
location as shown in Figure
F 5 (right). Interlamminar
tensile and shear stress s concentrations are spa atially Failuure predictio
on in the prresence of large stresss
out of pha ase, with thet maximum shear stress s graddients requiree investigation of stressess (or spatiallyy
concentratioon found at the void tip p as illustrate
ed in averraged stresses) at a cha aracteristic distance
d thatt
Figure 8. could represent some gage length relate ed to failure..
Stress ana alysis resultss in all loccal models also The concept off using a characteristic distance to o
demonstrate ed that the maximum in nterlaminar shear
s deteermine failure e of compossites in the presence off
stresses at tthe void surfa
ace were mu uch lower than the stresss concentraations was prroposed in Ref R [19]. The e
maximum interlaminar tensile strresses. A a
As samme work intro oduced the point-stress
p a
and average--
consequencce, the failurre mode can n be identifie ed as stresss failure critteria, where failure is deetermined byy
tensile dela amination. Interlaminaar tensile stress
s stressses at a finite characterristic distancee or stressess
concentratio ons at the critical
c void surfaces can be averraged over a characteristtic distance in the stresss
extremely h high. Nume erical resultss for typical void conccentration reg gion. These methods we ere applied too
geometries include co oncentration factors ran nging the stress con ncentrations at the crritical voids,,
between 8 a and 20, whichh is consisten nt with the cloosed- calculated by th he FE analyysis of the curved-beam
c m
form solutio ons provided d in Ref [18] for a tri--axial speccimens at th heir failure loads. Poin nt-stress and d
ellipsoidal ccavity in an infinite isotroopic elastic body.
b averrage-stress fa ailure predicttions typicallyy rely on the
e
The stresse es quickly deccay with the distance from m the calib
bration of the characteristic distance. In the currentt
void as sho own in Figure e 9. The ILT T stress valuue at meth hodology, no o calibration or a-priori knowledge
k off
100 μm (0.0 004 in) away from
f the criticcal location at
a the charracteristic disstances is reequired. Insstead, in the e
void surface e in the radia
al direction iss only 14% of o the poin
nt-stress metthod, the loccal interlamin nar stressess
void surfacee stress. were e plotted for each specim men as a fun nction of the
e
dista
ance from th he void; and d in the avverage-stresss
meth hod, the spattial average ofo the interlaminar tensile e
stresss was consiidered. At ea ach distance, the COV off
the ppoint-stress and
a the avera age-stress da ata were also o
plottted. By examining the COV C depend dence on the e
distance froom the void d, a unique e and distin nctive test is useful forr assessing the
t effects off porosity on
n
minimum po oint was iden ntified as shoown in Figurre 10 ILT strength.
s
for the pointt-stress and average-stres
a ss methods. The
distance corresponding to the minim mum COV ca an be Table 2. Failure e load, AST TM D 6415 and refined d
considered as the optimal characterisstic distance; and interrlaminar tenssile strength (ILTS)
( for CB
B specimenss
that distancce was use ed to determ mine the re efined with porosity defeects.
interlaminar tensile strength value. A characte eristic
ASTM D Re efined ILTS, Reefined ILTS,
distance of 19 μm (7.3×1 10-4 in) was determined
d fo
or the Failure
6415 ILTS, po
oint-stress avverage-stress
point-stress method and d 89 μm (3.5 5×10-3 in) fo
or the Specc Load, kN
MPa (ksi) me ethod, MPa me ethod, MPa
average-streess method. (lbs)
(kssi) (kssi)
1 2.24 (503) 83.4 (12.1) 123.1 (17.9) 115.1 (16.7)
2 1.34 (302) 52.3 (7.6) 125.1 (18.1) 109.3 (15.8)
3 1.89 (425) 70.3 (10.2) 125.8 (18.2) 105.7 (15.3)
4 2.61 (586) 92.8 (13.5) 123.8 (18.0) 109.1 (15.8)
5 1.27 (286) 50.0 (7.3) 119.0 (17.3) 103.3 (15.0)
6 0.93 (210) 37.7 (5.5) 125.2 (18.2) 112.9 (16.4)
7 1.85 (416) 68.8 (10.0) 129.3 (18.7) 112.0 (16.2)
8 2.47 (555) 94.6 (13.7) 125.8 (18.2) 113.0 (16.4)
9 2.45 (550) 93.9 (13.6) 123.9 (18.0) 109.3 (15.9)
10 2.06 (463) 81.5 (11.8) 121.5 (17.6) 113.8 (16.5)
Avg 1.91 (430) 72.5 (10.5) 124.3 (18.0) 110.4 (16.0)
COV
V 28.2% 26.5% 2.1% 3.2%

5. EFFECTS OF
O DEFECTS
S ON THE ILT
T FATIGUE
PERFORMAANCE
Thiss Section pre esents S-N curves
c determmined based d
on faatigue testing
g of CB coup pons. Twentyy 36-ply thickk
and 12.7-mm (0 0.5-in) wide IM7/8552 unidirectional
u l
curvved-beam spe ecimens werre tested in ffatigue. The e
AST TM D 6415 test t fixture was
w placed in i a uniaxiall
servvo-hydraulic load frame with w 25 kN (5 5.5 kip) load
d
cell capacity, andd subjected to t cyclic loads at 0.1 load
d
Figure 10 0. Characte eristic dista
ance and the o and 5 Hz frequency, to delamina
ratio ation failure..
interlaminar tensile stre
ength (ILTS) using the point-
p Figuure 11 showss examples of o fatigue delaaminations in
n
stress (top) and the averrage-stress (b
bottom) meth
hod. CB specimens after fatig gue testing.. Fatigue
e
delaaminations in nitiated in thet radius area
a of the
e
The average e ILT strengtth values are 124.3 MPa (18.0 curvved-beam sp pecimens; and a quickly propagated d
ksi) for the point-stress method and 110.4 MPa (16.0 throuugh the flan nges. It is s worth notiing that the e
ksi) for the a
average-stres ss method. Results
R for the ten locations of the e delaminattions were not uniform m
curved-beam m specimenss are summa arized in Tab ble 2 amo ong the spe ecimens; an nd did not necessarilyy
and comparred to the strresses calcula ated using ASTM
A coincide with the e location of the maximum m ILT stresss
D 6415 [6]. The average interlamina ar tensile stre
ength in the poros sity-free sp pecimen. Secondaryy
values found using the refined CB test t methodo ology delaaminations ass well as dela amination braanching weree
agree with tthe 116.5 MP Pa (16.9 ksi)) ILT from the e SB obse erved in some of the curve ed-beam cou upons.
tests. Note e that COV in the poin nt-stress and d the
average-stre ess based ILT strength calculationss are
only 2.1% a and 3.2% com mpared to 26 6.5% COV in n the
ASTM D 64 415 approxim mation. Low scatter sugg gests
that the re efined ILT strength
s is appropriate
a a a
as
pristine (free perty, and the CB
e of defects) material prop
 pressence of indiividual voids at critical lo
ocations thatt
causses the larrge scatter in the fatigue resultss
pressented in Figuure 12. The effects of crittical voids on
n
I stresses must be inclu
the ILT uded for a reeliable fatiguee
charracterization.

Figure 11. Examples of delaminattions in IM7//8552 ure 12. ILT S-N

Figu S curve forr IM7/8552 ta ape based on
n
curved-beam
m fatigue testt specimens. the ASTM
A D 6415 stress apprroximation.
The ILT pea ak stresses during
d fatigue
e testing weree first The methodology y presented in Section 4 was applied d
calculated ffrom a close ed-form geom metric ILT stress
s efine the ILT S-N curve based
to re b on the fatigue testss
approximatio on listed in ASTM D 6415 [6]. The of th he CB speccimens, micrro-CT measurements off
deformed sh hape of each h specimen, used
u in the stress
s poroosity in the radius area, and the re efined stresss
calculation [[6] was obtained from the e initial monootonic calculation that accounted for f the poro osity defects..
loading up to the peakk fatigue loa ad value prio or to Poinnt-stress and average-strress based characteristic
c c
fatigue testinng. The ILT S-N curve was w generate ed by distaances determ mined from the static curved-beam
c m
plotting the ratio of the in
nterlaminar teensile peak stress
s testss were used d to determin ne the peakk fatigue ILT T
and the inte erlaminar tenssile strength against the lo og of stressses at critic
cal voids andd replace the closed-form m
the number of cycles to failure. The e 72.5 MPa (10.5 AST TM D 6415 IL LT stress app proximation. For each off
ksi) static ILT strength was generated d based on th he 10 the 20 curved-b beam fatigue coupons te ested, criticall
ASTM D 6415 CB tests. voids were dettected from CT scanss using the e
The interlamminar tensilee S-N curve e and the least- mea asurement methods
m desccribed in Section 4, and d
squares fit for the powe er-law are provided in Figure the measuremen
m nts were transsferred into lo ocal FE sub--
12. A large e scatter with a low R2 value
v of 0.33 37 is mod dels. Displa acement bou undary conditions in the e
noted. Succh a poor co orrelation does not proviide a local FE modells were gen nerated from m the globall
reliable asse
essment of ILT fatigue material
m propeerties mod dels of the cuurved-beam specimens
s subject to thee
based upon n the ASTM M D 6415. The ILT stress s peakk fatigue load ds. For the point-stress method, the e
approximatioon is this stand
dard assuumes defeect-free pea ak stresses were dete ermined byy
homogeneo ous (defect-fre
ee) anisotroppic material in
n the calculating the ILLT stresses ata the 19 μm (7.3×10-4 in))
CB test speccimens [6 – 8].
8 charracteristic disstance from the void’s surface, ass
deteermined in Section
S 4. Similarly,
S in the
t average--
Post-failure CT scans showed th hat delamin nation stresss method, the
t ILT stres sses were avveraged overr
typically passses throughh the longer voids locate ed in the 89 μm (3.5× ×10-3 in) charracteristic disstance. The e
the radius area of the CBB specimens.. In particular, the ILT stresses at a the pea ak fatigue loads were e
presence off larger indivvidual critical voids in seeveral normmalized by the correspo onding ILT sstrength; and d
specimens gives reason for the de elamination crack
c plottted against the
t log of the number of cycles to o
being locateed relatively far away fro om the theore etical failure to generrate the ILT S-N curvess. The ILT T
radial location of maxim mal interlamin nar tensile stress
s strenngth values based on the t point-streess and the e
(about 2/3 oof the thickneess). The presence of la arger averrage-stress methods
m are listed in Sectiion 4.
voids on thee delaminatioon path is sho own in Figuree 11.
The porosityy content in the CB fatigue specimens s was The ILT S-N curvves from both h methods are presented d
low, e.g. the porosity y content in the lam minate in Figure 13. Both S-N curvves are simillar, with lesss
thickness-baased 6.6 x 6.6
6 x 6.6 mm m3 (0.26 x 0..26 x thann 2% relative difference in the exponen nt value. The
e
0.26 in3) cub
be volumes th hroughout the CT scans in the expo onent value determined from
f the refined method,,
curved-beam m radius area was le ess than 0.12%. is more
m than twic
ce the expon nent correspo onding to the
e
Therefore, it is not th he porosity volume butt the fatigue curve bassed on the ASTM
A D 64115 ILT stresss
apprroximation. The 0.92 R2 value corre esponding too
the point-strress method and R2=0.94 4 to the averrage- Thiss work pressents a mod dification to the ASTM M
stress metho od reflect a higher
h correla
ation comparred to Stanndard D 6415 5 CB method d. The curre ent ASTM D
the R2=0.34 4 from the ASTM D 6415 ILT stress s 6415 5 significantlyy underestim
mates the ILT T strength ass
approximatio on. The reduced sccatter reflectss the the CB
C coupon te est data are affected by porosity
p evenn
ability of the
e refined ILTT stress ana alysis methodds to at a low volume content.
c The
e refinement to the ASTM M
capture the e effects of o porosity on the fa atigue D 64 415 includess measureme ent of the crittical voids in
n
performance e. the CCB radius arrea and transsitions defecct information n
into a finite elemment stress analysis
a modeel to capture e
the ILT
I material strength prop perties. The ILT strength h
resuults of the modified
m CB tests presented for the e
IM7//8552 carbon n/epoxy tape e composite e, popular in n
rotorrcraft applica
ations, are in excellent agrreement with h
the SB
S based verification tests.
The methodolog gy to deterrmine the ILTI materiall
propperties was further exte ended to characterizingg
fatigue behavior.. As an exaample, the IL
LT S-N curvee
correesponding to
o a 0.1 load ratio was de
etermined forr
the IM7/8552
I tap
pe composite system.
The methodolog gy presente ed in this work could d
becoome a standard practice for assessing the effectss
of porosity on th he ILT streng gth and fatigue behavior..
Indeeed, porosity y can be re eadily introduced in CB B
speccimens. The susceptibility y of the CB ra
adius area too
dela
amination lim mits the nond destructive in
nspections to o
the radius area and makess such speccimens good d
canddidates to stuudy the effeccts of porosityy on materiall
strenngth. Althou ugh scatter in the ILT sttrength is an n
inhe
erent attributee of the CB specimens,
s th
he subject off
curvved-beam tessting and an nalysis has a significantt
pracctical value to
o understandiing the effectts of porosity,,
and should be co onsidered. This work sh hows that it iss
not the
t porosity content
c but the presence of individuall
voids at critical lo
ocations thatt reduce the ILT strength h
Figure 13. ILT S-N curvves correspon
nding to the point-
p and causes scattter in the sttrength and fatigue
f data..
stress meth
hod (top curve) and the e average-sstress The refined CB B methodology provides a practicall
method (botttom curve.) mea ans for defectt-tolerant dessign applicatio
ons, and it iss
appllicable to variious structura
al configuratio
ons.
6. CONCL
LUSIONS The potential benefits
b of the
t ability to
o accuratelyy
This work inntroduced strructural methhods that acccount charracterize the material structure and transfer the e
for porosity in composite
e parts and en nable an accurate assoociated non-destructive e measurem ments into o
assessmentt of their capaability and usseful life. It points
p strucctural failure models exte end well beyyond the CB B
to the need for a fundammental shift frrom fleet stattistics testss. This work
w shows that accura acy of non--
to an accuraate assessme ent of part co
ondition in ord der to desttructive insp pection is needed
n to quantify
q the
e
enable botth safe an nd economiical usage and smaallest voids anda paramount in deterrmining theirr
maintenance e. Technologgies to meassure defectss and effeccts on structuural performaance. Once knowledge
k off
understand their effectts on stren ngth and fa atigue the part conditio on in terms of o critical deefect location
n
performance e could ena able that shiift and ultim mately and size, and the eir influence on residual strength and d
become a sttandard pracctice. usefful life are established, the ultima ate goal off
achieving a fund damental shifft from statisttics-based too
CT measure ements of po orosity defeccts present inn CB cond dition-based structural substantiiation andd
composite test articles were integ grated into finite disposition will bee realized.
element models to assesss the effectss of defects on the
h and fatigue behavior. Once
ILT strength O the effeccts of ACK
KNOWLEDG
GEMENTS
defects werre captured through tra ansfer of the e CT
measureme ents into a three-dimen nsional strucctural Thiss work is sp ponsored by the US Offiice of Navall
model, the sscatter in thee test data was
w reduced;; and Rese earch under a Grant Awaard N00014-11-1-0916 to o
reliable matterial ILT strrength and fatigue
f propeerties the University ofo Texas Arlington. Thiss support iss
were determmined. grateefully acknow
wledged. The specimenss used in thiss
 work were manufactured by Bell Helicopter Textron. [8] Kedward, K. T., Wilson, R. S., and McLean, S. K.
The authors are grateful to Mr. Edward Lee, Principal 1989. “The Flexure of Simply Curved Composite
Engineer, Manufacturing R&D in this regard, and wish Shapes,” Composites, 20(6):527–553.
to thank Mr. Brian Shonkwiler, Research Associate
[9] Hexcel Corporation. 2013. HexPly 8552 Epoxy
and Ms. Paige Carpentier, PhD student, University of
Matrix, Product Data, available online at
Texas Arlington, for their assistance with running the
http://www.hexcel.com/Resources/DataSheets/Pr
tests.
epreg-Data-Sheets/8552_us.pdf, last accessed on
June 20, 2013.
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
[10] American Society for Testing and Materials. 2007.
The authors confirm that they, and/or their company or
Standard Test Method for Through-Thickness
organization, hold copyright on all of the original
“Flatwise” Tensile Strength and Elastic Modulus of
material included in this paper. The authors also
a Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composite
confirm that they have obtained permission, from the
Material. ASTM Standard D 7291/D 7291M,
copyright holder of any third party material included in
ASTM International.
this paper, to publish it as part of their paper. The
authors confirm that they give permission, or have [11] Jackson, W.C. and Martin, R.H. 1993. An
obtained permission from the copyright holder of this Interlaminar Tensile Strength Specimen. In:
paper, for the publication and distribution of this paper Camponeschi Jr. E.T. (ed.) Composite Materials:
as part of the ERF2013 proceedings or as individual Testing and Design. ASTM STP 1206, Vol. 11:
offprints from the proceedings and for inclusion in a 333-354.
freely accessible web-based repository.
[12] Makeev, A., He, Y., Carpentier, P., Shonkwiler, B.
2012. “A Method for Measurement of Multiple
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