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Experimental Methods to Quantify Microdamage and Microstructure Anomalies in Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites: Overview

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Handbook of Damage Mechanics

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Abstract

Composite structures are known to be susceptible to both manufacturing defects and in-service damage. Defects or damage can result in serviceability issues or a loss in the structural capability. Detection and characterization of defect and damage is thus of paramount importance in any successful deployment of fiber-reinforced polymer composites, particularly as they are used as primary load-carrying structures. Experimental methods for investigation of microdamage or anomalies in composites present the challenge that one single method is not capable of identifying all damage mechanisms. This chapter presents a review of selected experimental methods aimed at providing a quantitative description of selected damage types of microscale dimensions (e.g., intra-ply cracks) and microstructure anomalies (waviness, porosity) in fiber-reinforced polymer composites. The chapter discusses in the first part microscale damage characterization using microscopy, radiography acoustics, and ultrasonic techniques, while the second part is focused on the characterization of microstructural anomalies that depend on manufacturing, namely, waviness and porosity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Dr. Valeria La Saponara

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin, 784, Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA

    Rani Elhajjar

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  1. Dr. Valeria La Saponara
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Correspondence to Valeria La Saponara .

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  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    George Z. Voyiadjis

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La Saponara, V., Elhajjar, R. (2013). Experimental Methods to Quantify Microdamage and Microstructure Anomalies in Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites: Overview. In: Voyiadjis, G. (eds) Handbook of Damage Mechanics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8968-9_15-1

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