Purpose
To characterize the performance and degradation of composite materials subjected to service-like loading; assist in developing laboratory test standard procedures for mechanical testing of composite materials.
Equipment/Test Method
-Optical microscopes to tracks damage progression during tests
|
-Servo-hydraulic test machines
|
-Dropped-weight Impact Test Machine (300 ft-lb)Force transducers up to 20 kips- Impact masses 3-30 lb; impact velocity up to 26 ft/sec-4-channel data acquisition; rates up to 107 Hz
|
Typical/Recent Experiments
- Conduct fracture and fatigue crack growth testing to evaluate mechanical performance of composite materials
– Mixed-mode testing done to mimic complex stress states known to occur in service
– Test specimen and load fixtures designed for highly-specialized testing
- Develop ASTM test standards for testing composite materials
– ASTM D5528 (Fracture toughness testing)
– ASTM D6115 (Fatigue damage onset)
- Working on developing standard for fatigue crack growth
- Impact tests done on composite panels
– Damage characterized by UT/X-ray CT
– Compression testing done to determine mechanical performance reduction
