Development of a delamination fatigue testing machine for composite materials

Abstract

Experimental studies on fatigue behavior are usually conducted on servo-hydraulic testing machines that are expensive and have high maintenance costs. In this work, a much simpler testing machine was developed, intended mainly for delamination fatigue tests on composite materials. After a literature review on the methods and parameters of such tests, the machine was designed, and its parts manufactured and assembled into a fully operational testing machine. Additionally, the electrical components and the control and data acquisition software were also developed and implemented. Finally, several mode II delamination fatigue tests were conducted using the end-notched flexure test. The results were consistent with the well-known Paris law, which for composite materials relates the crack propagation rate to the strain-energy release rate range. Therefore, the developed machine seems to be an excellent alternative to the highly costly testing machines.