Delamination growth at interfaces in hybrid materials and structures under various opening modes

Abstract

This paper describes the investigation on the contribution of Mode I and II to the fatigue failure in bonded metallic structures and hybrid metallic materials. Double cantilever beam opening tests (pure mode I) and end notched flexure bending tests (pure mode II) have been performed on specimens with aluminium & glass fibre/epoxy interfaces. Both static and fatigue loading have been applied. In case of fatigue loading, the delamination growth rate has been recorded. The test data has been evaluated using models that link the strain energy release rate to the delamination growth with a Paris-type equation. The purpose of this evaluation is to develop a model to predict the delamination for an arbitrary geometry and loading. Finally, the potential of the developed model, for example the application to finite element models and the extension from basic specimen geometries to more global structures, is discussed. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.