Open-hole fatigue testing of UD-GFRP composite laminates containing aligned CNTs using infrared thermography

Jayaram R. Pothnis, Akshay K. Hajagolkar, A. R. Anilchandra, Raj Das, Suhasini Gururaja

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The present study aims to characterize the open-hole fatigue (OHF) behavior of unidirectional glass fiber-reinforced polymer matrix (UD-GFRP) epoxy composites containing aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MW-CNTs) locally reinforcing the composite in the vicinity of the hole. The performance of these multi-scale composites has been compared with that of composites containing randomly oriented MW-CNTs around the hole. UD-GFRP containing neat epoxy (without MW-CNTs) as a matrix were the control samples in the study. Infrared thermography has been used to investigate the damage evolution in composites during the OHF tests. MW-CNTs, aligned perpendicular to the loading direction, improved the fatigue strength of the UD-GFRP composites by over 12% compared to the control samples. Fractography results are also presented in support of the findings from fatigue testing. Infrared thermography is presented as a method to rapidly determine the high cycle fatigue strength of the OHF specimens.

Original languageEnglish
Article number117557
JournalComposite Structures
Volume324
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Nov 2023
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Carbon nanotubes
  • Electric field alignment
  • High cycle fatigue
  • Infrared thermography
  • Multi-scale composites

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