Damage evolution and characterisation of crack types in CF/EP laminates loaded at low temperatures

Tensile testing of CF/EP AS4/8552 cross-ply laminates at room (RT) and cryogenic (around −150 °C) temperatures has been performed to study the effect of temperature on damage (intralaminar cracking) evolution. Microscopy studies of the specimen edges showed a significant difference in damage pattern for the two different temperatures. At the low temperature (LT), more complex crack types were obtained that could not be found in specimens tested at the RT. The effect of these crack types on the laminate tensile modulus was studied by FEM. In analytical stiffness modelling complex shape crack was replaced by an “effective” normal (straight) crack with an “effective” crack opening displacement (COD) that leads to the same reduction in laminate stiffness. A crack efficiency factor was introduced to characterize the significance of complex crack shapes for stiffness reduction. The reduction of tensile modulus for a laminate damaged at low temperature was measured and compared with model predictions.