ELSEVIER

Int. J. Pres. Ves. & Piping 59 (1994) 131-140

1994 Elsevier Science Limited
Printed in Northern Ireland. All rights reserved
0308-0161/94/$07.00
Fatigue life prediction in composites
R. J. Hus t o n
Division o f Aeronautical Systems Technology, CSIR, Pretoria, Republic o f South Africa
Because of the relatively large number of possible failure mechanisms in fibre
reinforced composite materials, the prediction of fatigue life in a component is
not a simple process. Several mathematical and statistical models have been
proposed, but the experimental evidence to support them is limited so far. In
this paper, an attempt has been made to fit experimental results to two of the
more promising models. Results obtained from repeated tension fatigue tests
on unidirectional carbon fibre reinforced epoxy were used to test residual
strength and residual stiffness models. Further fatigue tests were carried out
under spectrum loading so that the results could be correlated with the
cumulative damage predicted by the residual strength model.
I NTRODUCTI ON
Dur i ng t he last two decades or so, t he use of
composi t e mat eri al s in t he pl ace of met al s in
many industries has become wi despr ead, not
least in t he aircraft i ndust ry. In gener al , a
composi t e mat eri al can be defi ned as a mat eri al
t hat consists of two or mor e distinct component s.
The composi t e mat eri al s used t o manuf act ur e
aircraft st ruct ures have usually compr i sed con-
tinuous fibres embedded in a pol ymeri c matrix.
The fibres provi de t he st rengt h and t he stiffness
and t he mat ri x hol ds t he fibres t oget her.
Consi derabl e wei ght savings can be achi eved by
using composi t e mat eri al s in aircraft because of
t hei r hi gher specific st rengt hs and specific
stiffnesses compar ed wi t h al umi ni um alloys.
Since t he days of t he Comet , fatigue has been
a subject of consi derabl e i nt erest to t he aircraft
industry. The i ncreased use of composi t e
materials has emphasi sed t he fact t hat t hei r
fatigue behavi our is mor e compl ex t han t he
fatigue behavi our of metals. I n a met al , fatigue
damage event ual l y appears as a cl earl y defi ned
crack, t he initiation and pr opagat i on of whi ch
can be predi ct ed by fract ure mechani cs analysis.
In a composi t e mat eri al , fatigue damage can t ake
t he form of any or all of t he following:
del ami nat i on, mat ri x cracki ng, fibre fai l ure,
matrix crazing, fi bre/ mat ri x debondi ng and voi d
growth. It is dependent on variables associ at ed
wi t h t he testing condi t i ons and t he const ruct i on
and composi t i on of t he mat eri al .
The S- N curve appears still to be t he most
popul ar met hod of charact eri si ng t he fatigue
behavi our of composi t e materials. Several em-
pirical equat i ons exist for descri bi ng S- N curves.
Most are based on t he classical power law t hat
gives a st rai ght line in a log-log pl ot of t he fatigue
dat a, but some possess refi nement s to account for
mean stress or t he ratio of maxi mum stress to
mi ni mum stress. One of t he si mpl er equat i ons
used to descri be t he fatigue behavi our of several
composi t e mat eri al s is as follows: ~
Oa = O, -- b log N (1)
131
wher e oa is t he maxi mum appl i ed stress, ou is t he
static st rengt h, b is a const ant and N is t he
number of cycles to failure.
Ot her t heori es have been f or mul at ed for t he
charact eri sat i on of t he fatigue behavi our of
composi t e materials. Ther e are essentially t hr ee
types: t heori es based on t he degr adat i on of
residual st rengt h, t heori es based on changes in
modul us and t heori es based on act ual damage
mechani sms.
Most of t he life predi ct i on met hods for
pol ymeri c composi t e mat eri al s current l y in
favour are based on resi dual st rengt h degr adat i on
(e.g. Refs 2- 5) .
These have been devel oped on t he basis of
132 R. J. Hust on
t hr ee assumpt i ons:
(1) t he statistical variability of t he static
st r engt h of t he mat er i al can be descr i bed
by a t wo- par amet er Wei bul l di st r i but i on;
(2) t he resi dual st r engt h aft er N cycles of
fat i gue l oadi ng can be r el at ed to t he static
st r engt h by a det er mi ni st i c equat i on; and
(3) when t he resi dual st r engt h decr eases to t he
maxi mum appl i ed stress, fat i gue fai l ure
Oc c ur s .
Reduct i on in stiffness caused by fat i gue l oadi ng
has been r epor t ed by vari ous obser ver s, 6-11 and it
has been recent l y r evi ewed by Rei f sni der . 12
Theor i es for fat i gue based on t he r educt i on in
stiffness have one significant advant age over t he
resi dual st r engt h t heor i es, namel y t hat t he
r emai ni ng life can be assessed by non- dest r uct i ve
means.
A second advant age is t hat less t est i ng needs to
be conduct ed. A typical r educt i on in stiffness
model ~1 rel at es t he degr adat i on of modul us t o t he
fract i on of life e xpe nde d at a gi ven stress
ampl i t ude, assumi ng t hat t he resi dual stiffness
decreases monot oni cal l y as t he numbe r of l oad
cycles i ncreases.
Fat i gue t heor i es based on damage mechani s ms
model t he i nt ri nsi c defect s in t he mat r i x as small
cracks parallel to t he fibres, and t he pr opagat i on
of t hese cracks are pr edi ct ed by l i near f r act ur e
mechani cs analysis. Unf or t unat el y, pr edi ct i on of
fat i gue failure is difficult because sophi st i cat ed
mat hemat i cal t echni ques are ne e de d t o cal cul at e
t he forces r equi r ed t o pr opagat e t he cracks and
t he damage accumul at i on process is si mul at ed
using Mont e Carl o met hods. t 3
In this paper an at t empt is made to cor r el at e
t he fat i gue t heor i es of Sendeckyj 5 and
Whi t wor t h ~ wi t h t he exper i ment al resul t s ob-
t ai ned f r om uni di r ect i onal car bon fibre rein-
forced epoxy.
EXPERI MENTAL PROCEDURE
Composite material tested and its processing
conditions
The composi t e mat er i al syst em used to t est t he
resi dual st r engt h and resi dual stiffness model s
was a uni di r ect i onal car bon fibre r ei nf or ced
epoxy pr epr eg syst em, Vi cot ex 913C-TS, manu-
f act ur ed by Br ochi er SA, an affiliate of
Ci ba-Gei gy. The resi n mat r i x was a modi f i ed
epoxy wi t h good resi st ance t o t e mpe r a t ur e and
humi di t y, and t he car bon fibres wer e of t he
Tor ayca T300B t ype.
The st andar d aut ocl ave cur i ng schedul e was
appl i ed t o manuf act ur e t he sheet s f r om whi ch
test speci mens coul d be pr epar ed. Thi s schedul e
consi st ed of heat i ng t he uncur ed l ami nat e under
vacuum to 90C at a rat e of about 3C per mi nut e
and t hen hol di ng t he t e mpe r a t ur e at 90C for
30 mi n. A pr essur e of 7 bar was gradual l y appl i ed
and t he vacuum vent ed when t he pr essur e
r eached 1.4 bar. The t e mpe r a t ur e was i ncr eased
to 120C, again at about 3C per mi nut e, and
hel d t her e for 60 mi n. The l ami nat e was t hen
cool ed t o 90C when t he pr essur e was r el eased,
and it was r emoved f r om t he aut ocl ave when t he
t emper at ur e had dr oppe d t o bel ow 60C.
Preparation of specimens
The same t ype of s peci men was used in t he
tensile and fat i gue tests. It was a flat,
paral l el -si ded speci men appr oxi mat el y 2 2 0 mm
l ong, 20 mm wi de and 1 mm t hi ck. A band saw
was used to cut t he speci mens out of t he cur ed
l ami nat es, and t hey wer e gr ound paral l el wi t h t he
aid of a surface gr i nder . To faci l i t at e l oad
t ransfer in t he grips of t he t est machi ne,
al umi ni um t abs about 2 mm t hi ck wer e bonde d
on to each speci men.
Test programme
In t he first stage of t he t est pr ogr a mme , t ensi l e
tests wer e conduct ed on 30 speci mens to pl ace an
upper limit on t he stress levels t o be appl i ed in
t he subsequent fat i gue tests and t o assess t he
variability in t he pr oper t i es of t he mat er i al . The
tensile tests wer e conduct ed in accor dance wi t h
t he r ecommendat i ons of ASTM D3039, and in
each t est t he t ensi l e st r engt h and t he t ensi l e
modul us wer e meas ur ed.
Fol l owi ng t he t ensi l e t est s, fat i gue t est s wer e
carri ed out to der i ve S- N curves for t he mat er i al .
Thes e tests wer e car r i ed out unde r l oad cont r ol
in r epeat ed t ensi on wi t h t he stress rat i o (R) equal
to 0.1. The f r equency was 10 Hz. Fi ve repl i cat e
speci mens wer e t est ed at each of seven stress
levels to gener at e t he S- N curves. Fi ve t ensi l e
st r engt h resul t s, sel ect ed r andoml y f r om t he
tensile t est dat a, wer e also i ncl uded. The fai l ure
cri t eri on was cons i der ed t o be speci men fract ure.
Fat i gue l i f e pr edi ct i on in c ompos i t e s 133
Fatigue tests were continued until approximately
2 million cycles, at which point the specimens
were considered to be run-outs. Tensile tests
were conducted on each run-out to measure
residual strength.
At two stress levels, 1700 and 1800MPa,
further fatigue tests were carried out to assess the
variability of fatigue life. Twenty-five specimens
were tested at both stress levels to identify a
probable distribution.
In the next stage of the programme, a series of
load spectrum tests was performed to compare
cumulative damage predictions with experimental
results. A load spectrum based on FALSTAFF la
was devised and 10 specimens tested. The tests
were continued either to failure or were stopped
after 5 million cycles, and then residual tensile
strength was measured. As before, the tests were
carried out under load control at a frequency of
10 Hz and with a stress ratio (R) of 0.1.
Finally, to assess the residual modulus model,
a few more fatigue tests were performed. At
various stages in each of these tests, the static
tensile modulus was measured. To do this, the
fatigue tests were interrupted periodically so that
an extensometer could be attached to the
specimen and the measurement s made.
T e s t e q u i p m e n t
All the fatigue tests were conducted using a
Schenck Hydropuls machine of 250 kN capacity.
Tensile modulus measurement s were made using
an HBM DD1 strain transducer connected to an
HBM DWS73 amplifier and digital monitor.
T E N S I L E T E S T R E S U L T S
The results of the preliminary tensile tests are
summarised in Table 1. The tensile strength data
The most popular met hod of characterising the
fatigue behaviour of composite materials is still
the generation of S- N curves. To attach
statistical value to these curves, it has usually
been necessary to test large numbers of replicate
specimens at different stress levels to obtain the
distribution of fatigue lives. Examples of this are
shown in Figs 3 and 4, where Weibull
distributions have been fitted to fatigue lives
obtained at maximum stresses of 1700 and
1800 MPa.
The probabilistic life prediction model of
Sendeckyj 5 does not require a large data base.
Static, fatigue and residual strengths ar e all
converted to equivalent static strengths and
pooled to produce a data base large enough for
statistical analysis. A t wo-paramet er Weibull
distribution is fitted to the residual strength data.
By assuming that the shape (tr) and scale (fl)
parameters of the fatigue life and static strength
distributions are functionally related to each
other and to the constants C and S in the classical
fatigue power law equation
o u / tra = C N s (2)
Tensile Tensile
strength, S~1 modulus, EI~
(MPa) (GPa)
Mean 2 180 135
Standard deviation 197 5.89
Coefficient of variation 0.090 0-004
No. of specimens 30 30
Maximum value 2 526 148
Minimum value 1 733 122
Distribution Weibull - -
B-Basis value 1 800 --
A-Basis value 1 700 - -
were analysed in the manner recommended in
the Military Handbook 17B, and a two-
parameter Weibull distribution was found to be
the most appropriate, in preference to the
normal, log-normal, and non-parametric dis-
tributions. As can be seen from the Weibull plot
in Fig. 1, the linearity of the results is
questionable, as borne out by the correlation
coefficient of -0. 92. The distribution of the
tensile moduli is shown in Fig. 2. The data fit the
Normal distribution well.
GENERATI ON OF FATI GUE CURVES
Tabl e 1. Tensi l e strength and t ensi l e modul us results f or uni di recti onal
Vi cot ex 913C-TS carbon fibre rei nforced e poxy
O
>
J~
o
0
L -
o
:>
E
o
Z
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1.0
-1.2
-1.4
-1.6
-1.8
-2.0
o. " 1 3 , 7 8 13 = 2 2 6 7
[]
I I I I I I I I I I
3.20 3.24 3.28 3.32 3.36
Log(Tensile strength, MPa)
Fig. 1, Weibull distribution of tensile strengths.
[]
I
3.40
the following expression for fatigue life can be
obt ai ned:
ere = [ a ; ' s + C ( N - 1 ) o J ' s ] s (3)
wher e ae is t he equi val ent static st rengt h.
Fitting t he fatigue model to t he experi ment al
dat a is an iterative process. Fr om t he log o versus
log N pl ot shown in Fig. 5, initial values of C
and S are est i mat ed. The fatigue dat a are
convert ed to equi val ent static dat a by using t hese
values in eqn (3). A t wo- par amet er WeibuU
distribution is t hen fitted to t he cr~ dat a,
preferabl y by us i ng t he maxi mum l i kel i hood
met hod, and t he values of t he shape and scale
paramet ers are st ored. New values for C and S
are chosen and t he pr ocedur e is r epeat ed until
the maxi mum value of t he shape par amet er is
obt ai ned. This val ue, and t he correspondi ng scale,
C and S values, provi de t he best fit of t he fatigue
data. For t he fatigue tests r epor t ed her e, t he
values of C and S wer e f ound to be 0-000 75 and
0.057 6, respectively. These gave rise to a shape
par amet er of 13.24 and a scale par amet er of 2235
for t he distribution of t he equi val ent static
strengths. This di st ri but i on is shown in Fig. 6.
From this distribution and eqn (3), S- N curves
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
-1.0
[ ]
-2.0
-3.0
134 R . J . H u s t o n
I
120
I I I I I t I I I I I
124 128 132 136 140 144
T e n s i l e mo d u l u s , E l 1 + ( GP a )
F i g . 2. Normal distribution of tensile moduli.
I J [
1 4 8
F atigue life prediction in composites 135
0.6
o
,.Q
0
0.4
0.2
0. 0
-0. 2
-0. 4
-0. 6
- 0. 8
- 1. 0
- 1. 2
-1. 4
-1. 6
- 1. 8
- 2. 0
o o D ' ~ ct = 0,597 13 = 83200
D
O
| | I I s | I I I
2. 0 3. 0 4. 0 5. 0 6. 0
L o g ( C y c l e s t o f a i l ur e )
Fig. 3. We i bui l di st ri but i on o f f at i gue l i ves at ma x i mu m s t res s o f 1700 MPa.
can be const ruct ed for vari ous probabi l i t i es o f
survival. Exampl e s o f t hes e are s hown in Fi g. 7.
The Sendeckyj mode l is a c onve ni e nt me t ho d
o f descri bi ng f at i gue behavi our but is de pe nde nt
on the validity o f t he t hree assumpt i ons upon
whi ch it is based: 5
(1) t he S - N behavi our can be descri bed by a
det ermi ni st i c equat i on;
(2) t he static strengths are uni quel y rel at ed to
the f at i gue l i ves and resi dual strengths
after a speci fi c numbe r o f cycl es; and
(3) t he static strength data can be descri bed by
a t wo- paramet er Wei bul l di stri buti on.
For t he f at i gue tests pres ent ed here, t he first
assumpt i on is probabl y val i d, si nce an empi ri cal
equat i on can be fi tted to t he data. The s econd
assumpt i on coul d be i nval i dat ed i f di f f erent
failure mode s were pos s i bl e, but this is unl i kel y
in this i nvest i gat i on as t he stress di stri buti on
resul ti ng f rom t ensi l e l oads appl i ed in t he
l ongi t udi nal di recti on to a uni di rect i onal l y
rei nf orced s peci men is not c ompl e x. The l i neari ty
D
t'x3
>
" t
.Q
0. 6
0. 4
0. 2
0. 0
- 0. 2
-0. 4
- 0. 6
- 0 . 8
-1. 0
-1. 2
-1. 4
- 1 . 6
- 1 . 8
- 2. 0
a = 0 , 4 8 6 ~ = 6 6 4 0
0 0 ~ 0 0
~%o
1.0
o
I I I t I I I
2. 0 3. 0 4. 0 5. 0
L o g ( C y c l e s t o f ai l ur e )
Pig. 4. We i bul l di st ri but i on o f f at i gue l i ves at ma x i mu m st ress o f 1800 MPa.
136 R. J . Huston
n
P
1
E
"-1
E
~
X
(11
O}
O
_.1
3 , 1
3.4
3 . 3
3.2
3.1
3.0
2.9
CI [ ]
1 I I I I I
2 4 6
L o g ( C y c l e s t o f a i l u r e )
F i g . 5 . Fatigue curve for Vi cot ex 913C-TS.
of the data in Fi g. 6 provi des an i ndi cat i on o f t he
validity o f t he third assumpt i on. The correl at i on
coeffi ci ent is - 0 . 9 6 . Thi s suggests that t he
Wei bul l di stri buti on fits t he equi val ent static
strength data qui t e wel l .
F AT I GUE LI FE P RE DI CT I ON U N D E R
S P ECTRUM L OA D I N G
If one rearranges eqn (3) to
or = [o~ `s- C ( N - 1)o~,' s] s (4)
and i f one make s t he assumpt i on that thi s
equat i on can generat e a val ue for resi dual
strength after every cycl e, Sendeckyj ' s mode l can
be appl i ed to spect rum l oadi ng.
The f at i gue l oad spect rum us ed in this
i nvesti gati on was based on F ALS TAF F , but it
was si mpl i fi ed and a factor was us ed on t he l oads
to ensure that s ome s peci mens f ai l ed after not
t oo many cycl es. The spect rum is gi ven in Tabl e
2.
An exampl e of how t he resi dual strength
model can be appl i ed to predi ct t he f at i gue l i fe of
a s peci men under spect rum l oadi ng is s hown in
I--
>
JO
.$
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
- 0 . 4
-0.6
- 0 . 8
-1.0
-1.2
-1.4
-1.6
- 1 . 8
-2.0
[ 3
a = 1 3 , 2 4 13 = 2235
f - I
I I I ! I I I I I
3.20 3.24 3.28 3.32 3.36
L o g ( R e s i d u a l s t r e n g t h , M P a )
Fig. 6. Wei bul l distribution of equi val ent static strengths.
[3
I I
3.40
Fatigue life prediction in composites 137
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.0
1. 8 n r~ n P r o b a b i l i t y o f survival
0
~ 1.6
~ 1.4
i 1.2
0.1
0.8
L- - -
0 2 4 6
L o g ( C y c l e s t o f a i l u r e )
Fig. 7. S- N curves for 0.9, 0.5 and 0.1 probabilities of survival.
Tabl e 2. Fati gue spect rum
Maximum stress (MPa) Number of cycles
1 480 8 100
1 200 50 000
990 225 000
1 310 23 000
1 800 500
1 630 1 900
1 100 150 000
850 1 000 000
Tabl e 3. For a probabi l i t y of survival of 0-9, t he
equi val ent tensile st rengt h is 1945MPa. The
residual st rengt h decreases progressi vel y t hr ough
each stage of each block. The val ue aft er each
stage is given in Tabl e 3. When t he resi dual
st rengt h has decr eased to a val ue bel ow t he
applied stress, failure occurs. This is pr edi ct ed t o
happen after 4 576 600 cycles, when t he maxi-
mum applied stress is 1800MPa in t he fourt h
block.
Some experi ment al results are pr esent ed in
Tabl e 4 for compari son with t he resi dual st rengt h
model predi ct i on. As can be seen, t wo speci mens
had fatigue lives shor t er t han t hat predi ct ed, one
consi derabl y so, whi l e ei ght speci mens survived 5
million cycles. Speci men 4 failed duri ng t he
1800 MPa stage of t he t hi rd bl ock, and Speci men
7 failed duri ng t he 1630 MPa stage of t he first
block. The resi dual tensile st rengt hs wer e
measur ed for t he ot her speci mens and qui t e a
wi de vari at i on was observed. Nat ural l y, all wer e
hi gher t han t he highest maxi mum appl i ed stress
of t he fatigue spect rum.
The predi ct ed fatigue life was for a probabi l i t y
of survival of 0.9, so one woul d expect one
Tabl e 3. Fati gue l i fe prediction: residual strength mode l
Maximum stress, Oa
(MPa)
Number of cycles, N Residual strength after N cycles, or
(MPa)
1st block 2nd block 3rd block 4th block
1 480 8 100
1 200 50 000
990 225 000
1 310 23 000
1 800 500
1 630 1 900
1 100 115 000
850 1 000 000
.1 939 1 905 1 857 1 772
1 938 1 904 1 855 1 768
1 938 1 903 1 855 1 769
1 936 1 901 1 850 1 757
1 923 1 883 1 822 Failure
1 914 1 870 1 798 - -
1 913 1 869 1 797 - -
1 913 1 869 1 797 - -
Equivalent tensile strength = 1 945 MPa.
Number of cycles to failure = 4 576 600.
138 R. J. Hust on
Table 4. Fatigue spectrum test results
Specimen Fatigue life Residual strength
(cycles) (MPa)
1 - - 2 322
2 - - 2098
3 - - 2 094
4 3 153 350 - -
5 - - 2 450
6 - - 1908
7 308 390 - -
8 - - 1834
9 - - 2166
10 - - 1971
speci men in t en t o have a s hor t e r t han pr edi ct ed
life. Wh e n t he t est s wer e car r i ed out , t wo
speci mens out of t he t en had lives s hor t er t han
pr edi ct ed. Cons i der i ng t he smal l sampl e, t he
cor r el at i on is adequat e.
R E S I D U A L S T I F F N E S S M O D E L
The r esi dual stiffness mode l of Whi t wor t h is a
phenomenol ogi cal mode l and is l i mi t ed t o
speci mens s ubj ect ed t o cons t ant ampl i t ude
fat i gue l oadi ng. The mode l r equi r es t he cal cul a-
t i on of t hr ee pa r a me t e r s f r om e xpe r i me nt a l dat a,
and it is as s umed t hat r esi dual stiffness decr eas es
monot oni cal l y as t he n u mb e r of cycl es i ncr eases.
The basis of t he mode l is an equat i on t hat
assumes t hat t he r at e of t he r esi dual modul us
r educt i on is i nver sel y pr opor t i onal t o a powe r of
t he r esi dual modul us itself:
d E( N' ) - Df f ( E ( 0 ) , o, )
- - - ( 5 )
d N' x E X - I ( N ' )
wher e E ( N' ) is t he r esi dual modul us af t er N
fat i gue ~ycles, N' is t he r at i o of t he appl i ed cycl es
t o t he fat i gue life, E( 0) is t he initial modul us , x
and D ar e const ant s and f ( E( 0) , Oa) is a f unct i on
of t he initial modul us and t he st ress r ange, Oa.
I nt egr at i on of eqn (5) f r om 0 t o N' :
E~ ( N ' ) = E~(O) - DU( E( O) , o , ) N (6)
and this r epr es ent s t he r esi dual modul us af t er a
cer t ai n por t i on of t he f at i gue life has been
compl et ed.
If it is as s umed t hat f i E( 0) , oa) is a l i near
f unct i on of t he stiffness change over t he cyclic life
f ( E( 0) , o~) = k A E ( N' ) (7)
and if t he s t r es s - s t r ai n r es pons e is l i near t o
fai l ure, t hen at f ai l ur e
E ( N' ) = Ef and a a ---~ Ef ef (8)
wher e Ef is t he r e duc e d stiffness at f ai l ur e and ef
is a cons t ant r el at ed t o t he st r ai n at f ai l ur e.
Equat i on (6) be c ome s
E x ( N ' ) = Ex(O) - OkX[ E( O) - Oa/ef]XN '
= Ex ( o) - HI E( 0 ) - B] x N ' (9)
wher e H = Dk x and B = aa/ef.
As can be s een in eqn (9), t hr e e pa r a me t e r s
(x, H and B) char act er i s e t he stiffness r educt i on
and ar e de t e r mi ne d exper i ment al l y, x and H ar e
i nde pe nde nt of t he t est var i abl es and B is
de pe nde nt on t he ma xi mum appl i ed st ress. Mor e
det ai l s of t he mode l can be f ound in Ref s 11 and
15.
To de t e r mi ne t he const ant s x, H and B, f at i gue
t est s wer e car r i ed out on five speci mens. Dur i ng
each t est t he st at i c modul us was me a s ur e d on
several occasi ons. The r educt i on in modul us f or
all five speci mens is pl ot t ed agai nst cycl es in Fig.
8. The modul us af t er N cycl es is gi ven as a
f r act i on of t he initial modul us and t he n u mb e r of
cycl es is gi ven as a f r act i on of t he f at i gue life.
The ma xi mum st ress was 1875MPa and t he
fat i gue lives var i ed f r om 2520 cycl es t o 344 310
cycles. Fi gur e 8 shows t hat t he r educt i on in
modul us, t hough slight, is al most l i near up t o a
fract i onal life of about 0-75, af t er whi ch t he
decr eas e is a little mor e rapi d. Howe ve r , t he
ma xi mum obs er ved dr op was onl y 6%, f r om 135
t o about 127 GPa.
The val ues of t he const ant s x, H and B wer e
f ound t o be 1-15, 1.74 and 127, r espect i vel y.
The cur ve ge ne r a t e d by eqn (9) appear s t o fit
t he exper i ment al resul t s qui t e well. The meas-
ur ed r educt i on in stiffness was r a t he r smal l and
per haps uni di r ect i onal car bon r e i nf or c e d epoxy
was not t he cor r ect mat er i al t o t est t he model .
However , one can cl ear l y see t he necessi t y f or
accur at e modul us me a s u r e me n t if t he mode l is t o
be appl i ed successful l y.
CONCLUSI ONS
The r esi dual s t r engt h mode l of Sendeckyj and
t he r esi dual stiffness model of Whi t wor t h have
been used t o descr i be t he r e pe a t e d t ens i on
fat i gue pr oper t i es of uni di r ect i onal car bon fi bre
r ei nf or ced epoxy. Bot h model s fi t t ed t he
exper i ment al resul t s qui t e well.
Fatigue life prediction in composites 139
1.0
0.9
0.8
L L I
0.7
Z
v
LJJ
0.6
. . . . . . . . A ~ ~, "
0.5
0.4
w Ak~
I I I I I I I 1 I
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.S 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
F r a c t i o n a l l i f e , N '
F i g . 8. Normalised static modulus as a function of the fraction of fatigue life at a maximum stress of 1875 MPa.
The resi dual st rengt h model was also used t o
predi ct fatigue life under spect r um l oadi ng. The
correl at i on bet ween t he predi ct i on and t he
experi ment al observat i ons was satisfactory.
If t he assumpt i ons on whi ch t he resi dual
st rengt h model is based are shown to be valid,
t hen t he model can be used with some
confi dence. The par amet er s C and S are pr obabl y
dependent on factors like l ami nat e or i ent at i on,
envi r onment al condi t i ons and R- r at i o, so t he
model woul d need t o be modi fi ed to accommod-
ate these. However , wor k carri ed out at
Nor t hr op has i ndi cat ed t hat , if strain is used to
define fatigue l oad i nst ead of stress, less
modification is r equi r ed. 1 6
The resi dual stiffness model also pr ovi ded a
reasonabl e fit t o t he exper i ment al results
obt ai ned. It shoul d pr ove t o be a useful t ool in
moni t ori ng fatigue life, as long as t he modul us is
measur ed accurat el y. Its mai n di sadvant age is
t hat it can be appl i ed onl y to const ant ampl i t ude
fatigue loadings.
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