CAI-2

Damage Tolerance:
Investigation of Effect of damage on the mechanical
properties of laminated composite structures.

It refers to the experimental determination or the

numerical prediction of the residual properties of the damaged structure. mechanical

U.S. Air Force draft requirements for damage tolerance for low-velocity impacts:

Laminates should maintain a minimum design strength

after impacts with 100 ft-lb kinetic energy by a 1-in diameter hemispherical indenter or after impacts resulting in a 0.10 indent, whichever is less severe (Schoeppner 1993).

Why only CAI?

Compression is critical for impact-damaged specimens
because under this type of loading, strength reductions are the largest.

Procedures must specify both how the impact test is to

be performed and how the compression test is to be conducted

 NASA Reference Publication 1142 (1985) or

Boeing Standard Specification BSS 7260 (1982)

United Kingdom, the CRAG method. Differences between the NASA and Boeing methods
have to do with specimen size and the exact manner in which the impact tests are performed prior to compression testing.

Standards:
NASA

Boeing BSS 7260(ASTM D 7137 and Boeing BSS 7260)

SACMA CRAG AITM 1-0010 Duarte et al ASTM

 During CAI tests, the specimens were clamped along

the top and bottom edges and supported along the two sides in a fixture .

The lateral support is designed to prevent overall

buckling of the specimen.

 CAI strength depends on the energy absorbed by the

specimen, which can be strongly affected by the particular design of the test fixture.

For the same impact energy level, damage is less

extensive if the holding fixture is more flexible (Prandy et al. 1991) or if some of the other parameters affecting the impact dynamics are different.

Therefore, the method for performing the impact test

must be specified in detail.

Literature on Test Parameters:

1. If the undamaged strength of the material is 400 MPa, testing of a
NASA-type specimen requires the application of a 452 kN force, and for a Boeing-size specimen, 163 to 204 kN are needed.

2. With the method proposed by Sjoblom and Hwang 1989, the 76.2 mm x
177.8 mm (3 in. x 7 in.) specimen is equipped with 1.59 mm (1/16 in.) thick glass-epoxy end tabs that leave a 3 in. x 4 in. test section. To prevent overall/Global buckling (or macro-buckling) of these thin specimens
(2 mm), 12.7 mm (1/2 in.) thick anti-buckling plates placed on either side of the specimen are held in place by four bolts. These bolts are hand-tightened so as to allow the specimen to compress freely. A 31.75 mm (1.25 in.) diameter hole is made in the center of the anti-buckling plates because impact damage creates surface deformation and damage. The specimen equipped with the anti-buckling plates is then gripped in an MTS machine and tested.

3.

Similar fixtures were designed by Sarma Avva and Padmanabha (1986), Nettles and Hodge (1991), Breivik et al. (1992).

Fixture for CAI:

4. Test results are used to screen materials, but caution is

advocated when attempting to extrapolate components (Sjoblom and Hwang 1989).
delaminations.
Smaller damage areas lead to smaller reductions in residual strength (Ghasemi Nejhad and Parvizi-Majidi 1990).

to

actual

5. CAI strength depends on the size of impact-induced

6. In CAI tests, Srinivasan et al. (1992) observed localized

buckling of the sublaminates formed by impact damage, delamination growth, and final failure by buckling.

Buckling:
Buckling and delamination growth are thought to be
the first steps in the compressive failure process.

Because of the presence of delaminations, the loadcarrying capacity of the damaged structure will be lowered and

In addition, once buckling occurs, delaminations might

extend and further decrease the load-carrying capacity of the structure.

Local Buckling:
The delamination is located near the surface of the
specimen and will buckle while the rest of the laminate remains straight called a local buckling mode, as opposed to global or mixed modes.

Global Buckling:
When a short delamination is located near the midplane of the laminate, its effect on the stability of the laminate is small, the laminate buckles as if undamaged, and in this case we have a global buckling mode.

Mixed Buckling:
For longer delaminations that are not located near the
surface, buckling of the delamination reduces the overall rigidity of the laminate, and the remaining portion is no longer symmetric and will buckle at a much lower load in a different mode , called a mixed mode.

Assessment of Residual Properties:

1. Pure Compression Methods:
a) CAI b) EWC

2. 4-Point Bending Method:

-Bending Strength -Bending Stiffness

CAI, EWC, 4.B

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