Composites: Part A 42 (2011) 17561763

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Composites: Part A
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compositesa

Microscale experimental investigation of failure mechanisms in off-axis woven

laminates at elevated temperatures
M. Selezneva, J. Montesano, Z. Fawaz , K. Behdinan, C. Poon
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St., Toronto, ON, Canada M5B 2K3

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 4 January 2011
Received in revised form 24 July 2011
Accepted 29 July 2011
Available online 6 August 2011
Keywords:
A. Fabrics/textiles
A. Polymermatrix composites (PMCs)
C. Damage mechanics
D. Mechanical testing

a b s t r a c t
Off-axis woven laminates fabricated from carbon ber and a high glass transition temperature thermosetting resin were subjected to tensile static and fatigue loading at temperatures ranging from room temperature up to 205 C. The damage mechanism prevalent to these specimens was investigated by post-mortem
examination using a scanning electron microscope. During most of their life fatigue specimens had accumulated minimal damage which consisted of matrix cracks, transverse bundle cracks and intra-ply delamination. Just before failure ber bundles began to straighten out and rotate towards the loading direction. This
behavior led to large elongation and necking of the specimens before fracture. Overall, the matrix-dominated material behavior and ber reorientation due to the off-axis conguration had a far greater inuence
on the fracture morphology than the gradual accumulation of damage due to fatigue loading. It was also
found that damage formation was strongly inuenced by the type of applied loading and the test
temperature.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Utilization of polymer matrix composites (PMCs) has signicantly increased in recent years as exemplied by designs of
Boeing 787 and Airbus A380. Development of high glass-transition
temperature (Tg) polymer resins gave PMCs the edge to compete
with metals for applications at elevated temperatures (up to
300 C), such as jet engine components. Additionally, PMCs with
fabric-reinforced layers, woven or braided, offer several advantages over the traditional composites with unidirectional laminas
[14]. The bi-directional reinforcement of textiles gives them balanced in-plane performance, improved out-of plane performance
and excellent impact resistance. Textile fabrics are also easier to
handle compared to unidirectional-tapes, resulting in a cost-effective fabrication process. However, mechanical properties of textile
PMCs are far more complex due to their interweaving or braiding
architecture, hence requiring extensive research to better understand their behavior. In service composite components are subjected to off-axial loading, thus a thorough understanding of
their off-axis properties is also required.
A number of studies have been conducted thus far with the aim
to investigate mechanical properties and damage mechanisms of
textile PMCs [18,13,16]. Previous studies show that PMCs comprising of plies with off-axis yarn orientation exhibit matrixdominated behavior and the inuence of matrix properties is more
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 416 979 5000x7417.
E-mail address: zfawaz@ryerson.ca (Z. Fawaz).
1359-835X/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2011.07.031

substantial as the off-axis angle increases. Work by Kawai and

Taniguchi [5] compared mechanical properties of on-axis (0 and
90) and off-axis (15, 30 and 45) woven laminates and
demonstrated that with an increase in the off-axis angle, stiffness
and strength of the specimens reduced signicantly and the
stressstrain curve became more non-linear. Similar conclusions
regarding the effect of the braid angle on properties of braided
PMCs were reached by Tate and Kelkar [6].
Moreover, off-axis PMCs inherit temperature dependence from
the matrix material. At elevated temperatures PMCs experience a
reduction of longitudinal stiffness, ultimate strength and fatigue
life [5,911], and this degradation of properties is more severe at
temperatures near the Tg. The main driving factors behind these
changes are the decrease of shear strength and elastic modulus
of the matrix, and the weakening of the bermatrix interface
[5,7,8,12].
Failure modes and sequence of damage development which are
characteristic to textile laminates were described by Khan et al. [7]
and Lomov et al. [4]. The common failure modes include transverse
cracks that propagate along the ber, debonding of the ber
matrix interface, and delamination between bundles or plies
[4,7]. Nonetheless, textile laminates are generally less prone to
delamination than their angle-ply counterparts [2,5]. Some studies
have also reported that woven and braided bers tend to straighten out during axial loading [4,7] and that the off-axis bers in
woven laminates tend to rotate towards the loading direction [5].
The failure phenomena of off-axis textile laminates were previously examined by Kawai and Taniguchi [5]. The authors

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investigated and compared the behavior of on-axis (0 and 90) and

off-axis (15, 30 and 45) woven specimens during tensile static
and fatigue loading at temperatures up to 100 C. It was shown that
damage mechanism was strongly dependent on the type of loading,
temperature and off-axis angle. Fatigue failure mechanisms of
braided laminates were described in great detail by Huang et al.
[2], and a substantial inuence of the braid angle on damage formation was demonstrated. A particularly interesting scissoring damage mechanism of braided specimens was described by
Fouinneteau and Pickett [3]. The authors compared the response
of carbon/epoxy and glass/epoxy specimens with a 45 braid angle.
It was found that carbon specimens being stiffer underwent significant necking, while the more ductile glass specimens exhibited
more uniform elongation. As the authors explain, necking was facilitated by the scissoring mechanism that occurred when the ber
matrix interface failed, and the two constituents began to separate,
hence allowing tows to reorient themselves towards the loading
direction. Overall, limited work has been reported on fatigue behavior of textile PMCs at elevated temperatures.
This study aims to investigate the damage formation mechanism of off-axis woven carbon ber thermosetting resin laminates
during tensile loading at elevated temperature. Specimens are
subjected to static and fatigue loading at temperatures up to
205 C. The subsequent section outlines material and experimental
details, and the following section summarizes results pertaining to
damage development on macroscale and microscale. Finally,
conclusions are presented.
2. Experimental investigation
2.1. Material and specimen description
The material under investigation is a woven 8-harness satin carbon ber polyimide thermosetting resin PMC with a non-symmetrical
lay-up [45]7. The two-dimensional woven fabric layers are manufactured using T650-35 carbon ber consisting of 3 K laments per
yarn (bundle), with an equivalent number of ends and lls in the warp
and weft directions respectively. The laminates were manufactured
using a resin transfer molding technique. Specimens were cut from
a 190 mm (7.5 in.) by 470 mm (18.5 in.) panel at a 45 angle with respect to the ber direction using an abrasive water-jet cutting technique to ensure superior edge quality. Specimens had a nominal
width of 25 mm (1 in.) and length of 470 mm (18.5 in.), which allowed for protrusion of the end tabs outside the furnace for gripping.
Prior to mechanical testing tapered (30) aluminum end tabs 50 mm
(2 in.) in length were bonded to the specimens with contact cement. A
vice was used to apply uniform pressure on the tabs during the cure
process (24 h at room temperature) to achieve a thin layer of adhesive.
2.2. Test procedure
A total of six specimens were tested at static or fatigue loading
and at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 205 C. All
tests were conducted within the Facility for Research on Advanced
Materials and Engineered Structures at Ryerson University, using
an MTS 322 test frame, MTS 647 hydraulic wedge grips, and an
MTS FlexTest GT/Teststar IIm controller and data acquisition unit.
For the elevated temperature (ET) tests, the ATS 3210 furnace with
an integrated temperature controller was used. This furnace has
three heating zones, each with a K-type thermocouple for temperature feedback to the controller as shown in Fig. 1. To minimize the
heat loss and promote thermal stability of the system, high temperature insulation was used to seal any openings in the furnace.
The rst test in the program was a static test to failure and was
conducted at room temperature. It was run under displacement

Upper grip

Specimen

3 heating
zones

Furnace

Furnace
thermocouples
Lower grip

Furnace
Attachment of
the furnace to the
test frame

Fig. 1. Photographs of the experimental set-up showing the furnace, the grips and
the specimen. (For interpretation of the references to color in this gure legend, the
reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

control at a constant rate of 0.6 mm/min. The subsequent fatigue

tests were run at a stress ration (R) of 0.1, a frequency of 5 Hz
and 60% of the ultimate tensile strength. These tests were conducted in force control with constant amplitude and a sinusoidal
waveform. Three specimens were fatigued to failure at room temperature, 105 C and 205 C. In this context, failure refers to total
fracture. The remaining two specimens were used to study the
damage state of the laminates prior to failure. These specimens
were tested at 160 C and 205 C, and fatigue loading was interrupted at 75% of their fatigue life.
For the ET tests, temperature was ramped up at a rate of 12 C/
min and was allowed to settle for 30 min prior to testing. Specimens were left unclamped in order to avoid buckling due to specimen expansion. An additional K-type thermocouple was placed in
the middle of the furnace close to the specimen surface to measure
the actual temperature of the specimen. Calibration tests have
shown that temperature is uniform (within 2 C) in the centre
of the furnace.

2.3. Post-mortem damage analysis

Once mechanical testing was completed, specimens were sectioned and examined under the scanning electron microscope
(SEM) in order to characterize their state of damage. The process
of damage development was studied by comparing samples cut
from failed and interrupted specimens (i.e. those specimens where
the fatigue test was interrupted before failure). In the case of failed
specimens, surface and cross-sectional samples were cut from different locations with respect to the fracture region as shown in
Fig. 2a. For the interrupted specimens, only two samples (one surface and one cross-sectional) were cut from the central region as
shown in Fig. 2b. However, as it will be further discussed in the results section, in the cross-sectional samples cut at a 90 angle it
was difcult to distinguish between the 45 bundles since they
had similar elliptical shapes. For this reason, an additional sample
was cut at a 45 angle as shown in Fig. 2c. At this cut angle ber
bundles of different orientations had a distinctively different
appearance. All samples were cut with a water cooled diamond
saw.
The cross-sectional samples were mounted into a puck, made
from LecosetTM 7007 cold-curing resin to allow for easy handling.
Aluminum tubing with 32 mm (1.25 in.) inner diameter was used
as a mold form and was coated with Vaseline to ensure easy
removal of the puck. Once mounted these samples were abraded
(180, 320, 600 and 1200 grit paper with water) and polished

(LECO 1 micro diamond compound, red felt cloth and diamond

extender). In order to enhance the quality of SEM images, all

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2 pieces of the same fractured specimen

25 mm (1 in)

Examined surfaces
Fracture
region

End tabs

Samples

A BC
25 mm (1 in)

End tabs

(a)
Examined surface

End tabs

25 mm (1 in)

End tabs

(b)
Examined surface

Fracture
region

45 cut

End tabs

(c)
Fig. 2. Locations of the surface and cross-sectional samples that were cut (a) from
failed specimens, (b) from interrupted specimens and (c) at a 45 angle. (For
interpretation of the references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred
to the web version of this article.)

samples were gold-coated in Denton Vacuum Desk IV (CTC Parker

Automation). Samples were examined under a JEOL JSM-6380LV
scanning electron microscope.
3. Results and discussion
Fracture characteristics of the off-axis specimens were found to
be dependent on the test temperature and the type of applied loading. This section discusses the observed macroscopic and microscopic failure mechanisms by examining fracture regions, and
cross-sectional and surface areas of the specimens, respectively.
The cross-sectional and surface samples of the specimens were
cut from different locations as depicted in Fig. 2, to evaluate the
distribution of damage along the length of the specimen especially
with respect to the site of nal fracture. Samples were taken from
the failed and the interrupted specimens.
3.1. Fracture region
Under static loading at room temperature the specimen underwent noticeable elongation prior to failure, hence demonstrating
rather compliant material behavior. The nal fracture occurred
along the 45 line, as shown in Fig. 3a, which is expected fracture
morphology of angle-ply and off-axis laminates. The fracture region of this specimen had a brushy appearance, and presence
of delamination and ber pullout was clearly visible in the vicinity
of the fracture. However, the overall area affected by these failure
modes was minimal, which is an indication of brittle matrix failure.
Similar failure characteristics of off-axis textile laminates were
previously reported by Kawai and Taniguchi [5]. It is interesting
to note that while individual constituents of the specimen at hand
demonstrate brittle-natured fracture (e.g. minimal ber pullout)
and material properties, the PMC itself shows compliant behavior
(e.g. large elongation). Such behavior can be attributed to the
8-harness satin fabric structure used to fabricate the panel, from
which the test specimens were cut. Kawai and Taniguchi [5] used

off-axis plain woven fabric specimens which have more interlacing

points to allow crimp interchange, while the 8-harness satin weave
structures have far fewer interlacing points and substantially
straighter lament bundles. Thus, the tensile behavior of a 45
8-harness satin woven PMC specimen is much more compliant
than a 45 plain woven PMC specimen. In addition, previous studies have shown that interlacing ber bundles tend to straighten out
[13] and, in the case of off-axis laminates, rotate towards the
loading direction. The latter concept will be further explored with
fatigued specimens.
The specimen that was fatigued at room temperature experienced signicant elongation during the test, and just prior to failure exhibited deformation that resembled necking of metallic
materials (Fig. 3b). As previously explained by Fouinneteau and
Pickett [3], necking of PMCs is facilitated by the scissoring mechanism that occurs when bers and matrix begin to debond and separate, hence allowing the ber bundles to re-orient towards the
axial direction. In fact, visual observation revealed that in the
vicinity of the fracture region there were numerous sites of matrix
fall-out (i.e. pieces of matrix were loose or missing) and debonding
among the ber bundles. This type of damage signies ber
matrix interface failure. The fracture region had a brushy appearance similar to that of the static specimen. However, the fatigued
specimen possessed a larger area affected by delamination and
ber pullout, hence indicating more extensive accumulation of
matrix-dominated failures. Also, ber failure occurred along the
45 bundles, in contrast to the static specimen where failure
occurred solely along the 45 bundles. By comparing the results
of static and fatigue tests at room temperature, it is evident that
application of cyclic loading induces matrix-dominated failure
modes, such as matrix failure and bermatrix interface failure.
More frequent sites of these failure modes in turn lead to more
extensive delamination, ber pullout and necking.
Specimens fatigued at elevated temperatures have also exhibited necking (Fig. 3c). At 105 C the necking region was similar in
size to that of a room temperature (RT) specimen, whereas at
205 C necking was signicantly more pronounced. This effect of
temperature was anticipated since at elevated temperature matrix
becomes more compliant, its shear strength decreases and adhesion between the two constituents weakens [7,14]. As a result, ber
bundles gain more freedom to straighten out and rotate towards
the longitudinal direction, hence producing a larger necking area.
Thermal effects become more substantial at temperatures close to
the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the matrix. The Tg of the
thermosetting resin used in this study is approximately 225
250 C, which explains why necking was notably larger at 205 C.
Moreover, the longer pullout bers and the larger delaminated regions observed with the 205 C specimen can be attributed to
increased ductility and reduction in shear strength of the matrix
(Fig. 3c). The fatigue life of the specimens was also shortened with
an increase in temperature. Similar results were reported by Kawai
and Taniguchi [5] in relation to fatigue failure of off-axis plain woven laminates at room temperature and elevated temperature.
Comparison between specimens fatigued at temperatures ranging
from room temperature to 205 C indicates that while the same
damage mechanisms are responsible for the specimen failure, thermal effects aggravate the extent and the rate of damage
development.
3.2. Cross-sectional areas
Cross-sectional photomicrographs that were taken close to the
site of nal fracture (Site A) showed a signicant amount of transverse bundle cracks as well as inter-ply and intra-ply delamination,
(Fig. 4a). This type of damage was characteristic to all specimens.
Transverse cracks formed along the bermatrix interface within

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Necking

Fracture primarily along

the +45 direction

Fracture along
45 direction

(a)

(b)
Necking

+45

<45

(c)
Fig. 3. Fracture regions of specimens that were (a) statically loaded at room temperature, (b) fatigued at room temperature and (c) fatigued at 205 C. (For interpretation of
the references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Intra-ply and inter-ply

delamination

Matrix rich area

Transverse
bundle crack
1 bundle

Transverse
bundle cracks

(a)

1 bundle

(b)
Very little detectable damage

Transverse
bundle cracks

(c)

(d)

Fig. 4. SEM photomicrographs of cross-sectional samples taken (a) close to the fracture region, (b) 25 mm away from the fracture and zooming into a transverse crack, (c)
25 mm away from the fracture and (d) 50 mm away from the fracture. These samples correspond to the specimen fatigued to failure at 105 C. (For interpretation of the
references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

a bundle and extended in the through-the-thickness direction

(Fig. 4b). These cracks were frequently found to propagate across
two adjacent bundles and to terminate at the boundary with a different bundle or a matrix rich area. These observations are in par
with previous studies that have demonstrated the tendency of
transverse cracks to extend between the bundles or plies with

the same orientation and cease at an interface with a bundle or a

ply with a different orientation [4,15].
As depicted in Fig. 4a there were numerous sites of inter-ply
and intra-ply delamination close to the fracture region (Site A).
These results were expected because specimens had a brushy
fracture surface, which consisted of separated ber bundles.

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Moreover, these specimens experienced signicant elongation just

before failure, which was also accompanied by necking in the case
of fatigued specimens. Such behavior was induced as the ber bundles began to straighten out and rotate, and their reorientation had
presumably created shear stresses that led to bundle separation
(i.e. delamination).
Samples that were taken farther away from the fracture region
exhibited a signicantly lower amount of damage. For instance,
photomicrographs corresponding to Site B in fatigued specimens
captured essentially no delamination and only infrequent transverse cracks as shown in Fig. 4c, whereas photomicrographs of Site
C showed very little detectable damage as shown in Fig. 4d. Similar
observations were made with the static specimen; Site A showed
considerable damage, while both Sites B and C showed minimal
detectable damage (similar to Fig. 4d). This difference was anticipated since on the macroscopic scale the fracture region of the static specimen was smaller than those of the fatigued ones. Overall,
progressively more damage was observed closer to the fracture
region. Moreover, examination of the specimens that were not
cycled to failure revealed essentially no damage, hence suggesting
that the majority of damage developed shortly before failure.
Observations thus far seem to indicate that specimens developed
the critical amount of damage, which triggered fracture, in a fairly
localized area just before failure, while the rest of the specimen
had accumulated signicantly less damage by that time.
While SEM images of low-damage samples (Sites B and C)
showed infrequent sites of delamination, it was difcult to establish its actual type (i.e. inter-ply or intra-ply). The reason being,
the warp and the weft bundles looked identical at a 90 cut angle.
To further the analysis, an additional sample was cut at a 45 angle
as shown in Fig. 2c. Fig. 5 illustrates that at this cut angle the architecture of the material is clearly captured. Also, interaction between matrix cracks, transverse bundle cracks and intra-ply
delamination is visible (Fig. 5). It seems that matrix cracks have
bridged together the transverse cracks. Similarly, delamination between the bundles appears to have co-existed with the transverse
cracks that formed in those bundles, which is an anticipated event.
Moreover, examination of this sample revealed presence of local
delamination between bundles of the same ply but captured no
sites of inter-ply delamination (Fig. 5). Conversely, samples from
Site A (Fig. 4a) showed both inter-ply and intra-ply delamination.
These observations suggest that delamination between plies developed shortly before fracture and was limited to the areas close to
the fracture region (i.e. area affected by necking). Hence the onset
of inter-ply delamination was induced by the shear stresses that
developed as the ber bundles rotated towards the axial direction.
3.3. Surface areas
The general pattern of damage formation that was observed on
the surface of all specimens is depicted in Fig. 6. Specimens had
Intra-ply delamination

developed matrix cracks that formed in the matrix-rich areas and

numerous bundle cracks that propagated along the bers. These
bundle cracks correspond to the transverse cracks that were detected in the cross-sectional samples. Also a denite interaction
between the bundle cracks and matrix cracks was observed. It appears that matrix cracks have originated from the bundle cracks,
and an interesting zig-zag pattern was formed in the region where
bundle cracks transitioned into matrix cracks as depicted in Fig. 7.
Also, while matrix cracks extended at a 90 angle with respect to
the loading direction, they seem to be arranged in the ber direction and are aligned with the submerged (or underlying) bundle
cracks (Fig. 6). The effect of bers on the matrix crack growth is
clearly depicted in Fig. 8 which shows that propagation of matrix
cracks was impeded by the presence of bers. In the vicinity of a
ber bundle, matrix cracks were redirected to grow along the ber
direction. Moreover, photomicrographs taken close to the fracture
region (Fig. 9) show sites of matrix fall-out. This observation implies that progression of loading had weakened the bermatrix
interface and the matrix itself to an extent where matrix would
no longer be able to support the original off-axis angle of the bundles. As a result, ber bundles gained more freedom to rotate, leading to necking.
While this pattern of damage development was common to all
specimens, the inuence of temperature on damage characteristics
was, nonetheless, prominent. An interesting difference in surface
smoothness was observed between specimens tested at room
temperature and elevated temperature as depicted in Fig. 10. In
the case of RT specimens surface of the matrix was smooth
(Fig. 10a); whereas surface of elevated temperature specimens
was uneven and showed signs of matrix deformation (Fig. 10b). This
temperature dependence was not surprising, since properties of
polymer matrix materials are known to deteriorate at elevated temperature [5,7,1012]. In fact, evolution of the forcedisplacement
curves during fatigue exemplied that behavior of the specimens
was highly viscoelastic and that they underwent large permanent
deformations at elevated temperatures [16]. Hence surface unevenness that was observed with ET specimens was probably a result of
permanent matrix deformation which accumulated during cyclic
loading.
Additionally, the fracture morphology of the bundle cracks was
also affected by temperature. Fig. 10a shows that bundle cracks in
RT specimens had rugged sides, hence signifying brittle fracture of
the matrix. Conversely, bundle cracks in ET specimens had smooth
surfaces (Fig. 10b) that formed as a result of bermatrix interface
failure. Weakening of the bermatrix bond is expected to occur at
elevated temperature and would consequentially reduce the ability
of the matrix to resist rotation of the ber bundles. Thus necking
was more severe at elevated temperature.
Finally, an interesting observation was made regarding matrix
cracking at 205 C. At test temperatures ranging from room
temperature to 160 C, matrix cracks extended at a 90 angle but
Transverse bundle cracks

1 ply

Matrix crack
Transverse bundle crack

Intra-ply delamination

Fig. 5. SEM photomicrographs of a cross-sectional sample cut at a 45 angle from the specimen fatigued to failure at 105 C. (For interpretation of the references to color in
this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

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Loading direction

Transverse
bundle cracks

+45 warp
fiber bundles
-45 weft
fiber bundles
Matrix cracks

Matrix cracks

(a)

(b)

Fig. 6. SEM photomicrographs of surface samples taken 25 mm away from the fracture region of the specimens fatigue to failure at (a) room temperature and (b) 105 C. (For
interpretation of the references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Zig-zag pattern

Matrix cracks

(a)

(b)

Fig. 7. SEM photomicrographs showing the zig-zag pattern formed by matrix cracks on the surface of the specimen fatigued to failure at room temperature at magnications
of (a) 100 and (b) 400. (For interpretation of the references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Matrix cracks
Matrix crack is
redirected

Fiber bundle

(a)

(b)

Fig. 8. SEM photomicrographs showing redirection of a matrix crack on the surface of the specimen fatigued to failure at 105 C at magnications of (a) 100 and (b) 300.
(For interpretation of the references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

were aligned with the submerged bundle cracks (Fig. 7). However,
in the specimen fatigued at 205 C matrix cracks did not propagate
at a 90 angle; instead they continued to grow in the direction of
the bundle cracks from which they originated (45), Fig. 11. These
results suggest that at 205 C matrix properties were substantially
degraded, and it could no longer resist or impede propagation of
bundle cracks as they reached the bundlematrix interface. It is
also noteworthy that the test temperature of 205 C is near the
Tg of the thermosetting resin used in this study, which naturally
has a critical effect on polymer based materials.

3.4. General discussion

SEM observations of the cross-sectional and surface areas
showed that specimens developed minimal amount of damage
during most of their lifetime. Even in the failed specimens little
damage was found in the areas away from the fracture region.
The type of damage that was detected consisted of transverse bundle cracks, local matrix cracking and intra-ply delamination. The
transverse bundle cracks extended in the through-the-thickness
direction of the bundles and propagated along the length of the

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Sites of matrix
fall -out

Fiber bundle

Matrix crack

Fig. 9. SEM photomicrograph of a surface sample taken close to the fracture region
of the specimen fatigued to failure at room temperature. (For interpretation of the
references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of
this article.)

bers. These cracks passed through adjacent bundles of the same

orientation and terminated at the interface with bundles of different orientation. The matrix cracks extended at a 90 angle to the
loading direction and seem to have initiated when bundle cracks
reached matrix rich areas. These matrix cracks also appear to be
aligned in the direction of bundle cracks propagating in underlying
bundles. Also, infrequent sites of local delamination were detected
between bundles of the same ply. Overall, the different types of
damage observed in the specimens seem to interact with each
other in regards to initiation and growth.
Large scale damage such as delamination, necking and matrix
fall-out formed in a localized area in all specimens tested only prior
to ultimate failure. Closer to the time of fracture, bundlematrix
interfaces and matrix were substantially weakened by the microscale damage to the point where they could no longer restrain
the reinforcing carbon fabric from deforming. As a result, ber bundles began to straighten out and re-orient (or rotate) towards the
loading direction. The latter behavior was more pronounced with
the fatigued specimen. On the macroscale, straightening and rotation of the bundles led to large elongations of the specimens before
failure and to necking of fatigued specimens. Also, numerous sites
of matrix fall-out were detected by a simple visual observation of
the fracture region. Internally these events created large shear
stresses that resulted in extensive inter-ply and intra-ply delamination, and longer matrix cracks. Finally, when elongation and or
necking became severe carbon bers began to break leading to
prompt fracture of the material. Overall, results suggest that the
fracture morphology observed with these specimens can be in part
attributed to the progressive accumulation of the microscale
damage (e.g. intra-ply delamination and transverse bundle cracks).

Transverse bundle crack

(a)

Fig. 11. SEM photomicrograph of a surface sample showing matrix crack formation
in the specimen fatigued at 205 C. (For interpretation of the references to color in
this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Nonetheless, it is predominantly a result of the matrix-dominated

behavior due to the off-axis test specimens.
Results have also demonstrated that nature of the applied loading (static vs. dynamic) had a noticeable effect on the damage
mechanism. The fatigued specimen experienced necking and ber
pullout, and fractured along the 45 line. Conversely, the static
specimen failed along the 45 line, and showed little necking and
minimal ber pullout. Observations on the microscale also revealed that the area affected by delamination and transverse bundle cracks was larger in the fatigued specimen. These results
suggest that initiation and propagation of the matrix and bermatrix interface failure modes are facilitated by cyclic loading.
It was also found that temperature had a characteristic effect on
damage development. The area affected by necking and delamination was signicantly larger at 205 C than at 105 C or at room
temperature, indicating that the matrix and the bermatrix interface undergo considerable deterioration at 205 C. This behavior is
expected at temperatures approaching the Tg of the matrix, which
for the thermosetting resin used in this study is approximately
225250 C. The surface of the ET specimens was non-smooth, also
suggesting of thermal degradation of the matrix. Moreover, bundle
cracks at room temperature seem to be brittle but at elevated temperatures appear to be ductile presumably because the brittle thermosetting resin becomes more compliant at higher temperatures.
These results demonstrate temperature dependence of these laminates that is associated with their matrix-dominated properties.
4. Conclusion
Satin weave PMCs were subjected to off-axis tensile static and
fatigue loading at temperatures ranging from room temperature

Transverse bundle crack

(b)

Fig. 10. SEM photomicrograph of surface samples taken from specimens fatigued to failure (a) room temperature and (b) at 105 C. (For interpretation of the references to
color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

M. Selezneva et al. / Composites: Part A 42 (2011) 17561763

to 205 C and their respective damage formation mechanisms were

studied. A qualitative post-mortem damage analysis was performed
by sectioning the specimens and examining their cross-sectional
and surface areas under a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
The major results and conclusions are summarized as follows.
1. Fatigued specimens failed after experiencing signicant
elongation and necking which occurred due to straightening
and reorientation of the ber bundles because of weakened
matrix and bermatrix interface. The static specimen did
not exhibit necking and had a smaller fracture region which
suggested that damage development in the matrix and at
the bermatrix interface was amplied by cyclic loading.
2. Post-mortem analysis showed that during most of the lifetime specimens had developed a low amount of damage
which consisted of local intra-ply delamination, transverse
bundle cracks and matrix cracks. Extensive damage in the
form of large delaminated areas, frequent bundle cracks,
and long matrix cracks formed just before failure and was
limited to the fracture region.
3. The inuence of test temperature on damage development
was evident when comparing the fracture regions, crack
propagation and surface smoothness of the specimens. ET
specimens had non-smooth surfaces which suggested
matrix degradation. Also, ET bundle cracks had smooth
edges and appear to be ductile in nature as opposed to the
RT cracks that had a rugged brittle appearance hence illustrating deterioration of the bermatrix bond at elevated
temperatures. This weakening of the bermatrix interface
has led to increased ber bundle rotation and consequently
to extensive necking.
4. SEM examination showed that the intensive damage in the
form of inter-ply delamination and matrix fall-out that was
observed close to the fracture region was not gradually
accumulated during loading. Instead it developed shortly
before failure due to reorientation of the ber bundles
which was permitted by the weaker bermatrix interface.
In general, the characteristic damage morphology that was
observed with the off-axis woven specimens can be largely
attributed to the matrix-dominated material behavior.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the nancial
support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
(NSERC) of Canada (CRD program) and the Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec (CRIAQ). The nan-

1763

cial support of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the
Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT) towards the experimental research
facility in which this program was conducted is also gratefully
acknowledged. The rst two authors also acknowledge additional
funding in the form of scholarships by NSERC. Finally, the authors
gratefully acknowledge Mr. Stephen Caulfeild of Pratt & Whitney
Canada for his generous contribution to this research.
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