0 Elsevier, Paris

Carbon fibre-reinforced plastic materials Ann. Chim. Sci. Mat, 2000, 25, pp. 533-537

ACOUSTIC EMISSION IN CARBON FIBRE-REINFORCED PLASTIC MATERIALS

0livie.r SIRON*, Hiroshi TSUDA

National Institute of Materials and Chemical Research (NIMC), AIST, MITI, Departmnt of Composite Materials,
l-l Higashi, Tsnkuba, 305-8565 Ibaraki, Japan.

Abstract - The mechanicalbehaviour of unidirectional (UD) and 2D-laminate Carbon Fibre-

Reinforced Plastic compositeswas investigated under 4-point bending and tensile loads at room
temperature. The mechanicalbehaviour of UD compositeswas first studied. The mechanical
behaviour of a quasi-isotropiclaminate was subsequentlyinvestigated under the sameloading
conditions and correlatedto that of the UD plies. The damageand the failure mechanismswere
identified by microscopeobservationson both UD and laminate composites.Two families of
damage mode were identified, involving interfibre cracks and inter-layer delamination cracks
homogeneouslydistributed within the composite. The fracture process is assignedto the
propagation of the macrocrack in the failure envelope through a large intra and inter-layer
delaminationprocessinterrupted by tibres/bundlesfracture. Acoustic emissionmeasurementwas
performedduring the tests.An approachusinga combinationof acousticwaveform parametersas
indicatorsof the physical damageis discussed.

R&urn6 - Emission acoustique dans les math-iaux composites CFRP. Le comportement

m&nique de mat&iaux compositesunidirectionnelet bidirectionnel stratifit de type CFKP a &tt
&udiC sous chargement de flexion quatre points et de traction zi temphture ambiante. Le
comportementmkanique du pli &nentaire a d’abord&& &udiC.Le comportementmkcaniqued’un
stratifiCde type quasi-isotropiquea tt6 ensuiteanalysesouslesm&es conditionsexp&imentaleset
corr& a celui du pli B&nentaire. Les modesd’endommagement ont &tBidentifies par desexamens
en microscopic optique. Deux modes d’endommagementrkpartis de fqon homoghneont t%t6
identifiks, incluant desmicrofissuresintra-fil et desfissuresde dklaminageentreles plis. La rupture
du mattiau a & attribde au dbveloppementd’une macrofissure,incluant de larges zones de
d&rninage intra et inter-fil interrompuespar des rupturesde fibres / fils. L’&nission acoustique
bmise sous chargement a &tB enregistrke. Une approche utilisant les paramhtresd’Cmission
acoustiquecommeindicateursd’endommagement estdiscutte.

Remints:Hiroshi TSUDA, National Institute of Materials andChemicalResearch(NIMC), AET,

MlTI, Departmentof CompositeMaterials, l-l Higashi,Tsukuba,3058565 Ibaraki, Japan.
* , GERMA Member (httn:Ngerma.citeweb.net)
534 0. Siron, H. Tsuda

1. INTRODUCTION

Carbon Fibre-Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) composites display several advantageous

properties for structural application in the aeronautics and space industry. In order to define an
accurate design and life prediction of CFRP structures, it is important to identify and to predict the
nature of the physical damage occuring within the structure under critical loads. The damage and
failure process in CFRP composites is known to involve a sequential accumulation of matrix
microcracks, delaminations and fibre/bundle failures. These features have been identified on
unidirectional (UD) [l] and 2D-laminate CFRP composites [2-41 under several loading conditions
at room temperature.
An example of such CFRP composite (T800W3631) has been investigated in this study. In
the first part of this work, the mechanical behaviour and the ultimate failure of the composites were
investigated under quasi-static loading conditions at room temperature. The originality of this work
is to study the mechanical behaviour of CFRP composites through multi-scale approach. The
mechanical behaviour of UD composites under tensile and flexural loads was first studied. The
mechanical behaviour of a quasi-isotropic laminate composite was subsequently investigated under
the same loading conditions and correlated to that of the elementary plies. For both CFRP
composites tested, the damage and the rupture processes were identified by optical microscopy.
Non destructive evaluation (NDE) is useful to follow the integrity of structures during
processing and industrial applications. Acoustic emission (AE) analysis was performed during the
mechanical tests. AE waveform parameters were investigated as damage indicators and related to
the physical damage of the composite. Numerous attemps have been done to correlate AE waveform
parameters to the physical damage process. Major studies are reviewed in the references [5-91. In
the present work, AE was recorded with a single sensor under several loading conditions generating
localized (bending test) and diffuse (tepsile test) damage area. From a multi-scale experimental
analysis of the composites, a double amplitude/duration analysis of the AE signals was performed.
A correlation between the AE waveform parameters and the damage and fracture kinetics identified
by optical microscopy was then proposed.

2. MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTS

The materials used are UD and quasi-isotropic ([+45/90/-45/0]2,) CFRP composites

(manufactured by Toray Co. Ltd). All these materials were fabricated according to the same process.
The prepreg used was TXOOH / 3631 (Epoxy matrix). The volume fraction of tibres (table I) was
60%. Prepregs were cured at 180 “C during two hours. An analysis by optical microscopy was
performed on the as-received UD and 2D composites. No damage (including no porosity) was
identified within the specimens. The apparent density of the specimens is 1.58kO.02 g/cm3. The
length and width of the specimens tested were respectively 200 mm and 20 mm, except for the on-
axis UD-composite of which the width has been reduced to 10 mm.
The tensile tests were performed with a universal testing machine at a cross-head speed of
0.5 mmmin. The 4-point loading tests were performed according to ASTM standards [lo]. The
specimens were loaded with a device whose lower and upper span were 150 mm and 50 mm
respectively. The tests were performed with a universal testing machine with a Immmin cross-head
speed. Al3 signals were recorded during the tests. A 3OOKHz resonance frequency AE sensor was
attached to the specimen through a silicone grease coupling. The sensor output was connected to a
40 dB preamplifier and a 150-750 KHz bandwith plug-in filter. The threshold of the AE system was
Carbon fibre-reinforced plastic materials 535

set to 30 dl3. The calibration of the recording system allowed the selection of the appropriate
parametersand eliminationof the signalnoisef?omthe grip device.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1. Mechanicalbehaviour andmicroscopeobservationsof damager8l

The stress-strainrelationship of the UD and the laminate compositesare linear and

interrupted by a brittle fracture processunder tensile and bending loading conditions (table 1).
Optical microscopy inspectionsof the tested specimenswere usedto assess the damageand the
failure processes of the composites.A few in&a-ply cracksand limited inter-ply delaminationcracks
were identified, homogeneouslydistributedin the laminatecomposite.The 45” off-axis plies clearly
fulfil their function delaying the propagationof the matrix cracksto the on-axis plies. For both of
the compositestested,most of the damageis located in the failure envelope, including large intra
and inter-layer delamination cracks as well as fibre/bundle failures. The damageand fracture
processes aremainly due to local shearcomponents.

Table 1. Mechanical properties of the CFRP composite materials (Notations : E : Young’s

modulus,v : Poissonratio, o : stress,E : strain, 1 : longitudinal, t : transverse,b : bending,
r : failure, max : maximum)

I Tensile Test ! 4-ptBending Test

C-fibreT800H(data 1 Density: I or = 5.49 GPa
providedby Toray q= 1.9%
Co.)
90’ off-axis : On-axis: 90’ off-axis :

Et’ Eb= Eb =
7.9OM.02 GPa 155.8k2.1 GPa 8.1kO.2 GPa
m 10112p 0,= Omax= Omax=
26oiSO MPa 80MMPa 1807*44MPa 11&2 MPa
Er= (E= (E =
Er= 1.36aO.02 %)
1.05hO.l% 1.3 1*0.03 %)
1.4WO.01%
omax=
El = 7Oti12 MPa
61*1 GPa (E =
vlt = 0.32 1.7*0.1%)

3.2. Damageand rupture urocesses

in correlationwith AE waveform parametersr8l

The multi-scale approachadoptedin this work allowed to clearly identify the damageand
the failure modesinvolved during the loading of the CFRP composites.Basedon the variations in
amplitude and duration of the AE events, several domainswere defined and correlated to the
physical damageffigure 1). This multi-scaleapproachprovides evidencesof a correlation between
the initiation and the propagationof matrix microcracking and the low duration and low/medium
amplitudeevents. The initiation and the propagationof the intra and inter-ply delaminationcracks
536 0. Siron, H. Tsuda

were associated to medium duration and mediumhigh amplitude AE events. Medium duration and
highest amplitude events were assigned to fibre/bundle failure. Finally, high duration (and mainly
highest amplitude) events were associated to the sudden propagation of the macrocrack including
large delamination cracks. Table 2 summarizes the classification of the AE signal parameters.

Time (s)
Amplitude (dB)
Figure 1. Typical stress-strain curve and AE (left) obtained during 4-point bend test performed on
a [+45/90/-45/0]2, CFFW composite, and a representation of amplitude and duration of
AE events (right).

Table 2. Correlation between the physical damage, the fracture mechanism and the AE waveform
parameters.

Amphtude Low Medium High

Duration (30 - 35/4odEq (35140 - 8OdB) (80- lOOdE%)
Domain I : Domain II :
Low onset of intra- propagation of
(< 1000 psec) ply matrix IlMtl-iX
microcrack microcrack @O-90/95 dB) (90/95-1OOdB)
Domain III :
onset of Domain IV(a) : i Domain IV(b) :
delamination I
Medium (initiation of propagation of : tibre I bundie
(1000 << 10,000 transverse ply intra and inter- : failure
ec) failure Ply
associated with delamination /
inter-ply crack
delamination
crack)
; DomainV:
~ brutal
High i propagation of
(> 10,000 flsec) macrocrack
I associated with
large
: delamination
crack
Carbon fibre-reinforced plastic materials 537

4. CONCLUSION

The mechanicalbehaviour of UD and quasi-isotropicCFRP compositeswas investigated

under tensile and 4-point loads. These materials exhibits remarkably high elastic and failure
properties.The damageand the failure mechanismswere identified by microscopeobservationson
both UD and laminate composites.Two families of damagemode were identified, involving
intertibre cracks and inter-layer delamination cracks homogeneouslydistributed within the
composite.The fracture processis assignedto the propagation of the macrocrackin the failure
envelope through a large intra and inter-layer delaminationprocessinterrupted by fibres/bundles
fracture. The fracture processhas been attributed to local shear components.AE signalswere
recordedduring the mechanicaltests. Baaedon the microscopy analysisof damage,an approach
using AE waveform parametersas damageindicators is proposed.The next step will involve
experiments with several AI? sensors(2 2). The AE waves attenuation could be studied in
correlation with the location of the AE sources.These new results will be comparedto the
classificationproposed.

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