The effect of different tabbing methods on the damage progression and failure of carbon fiber reinforced composite material under tensile loading

Abstract

Composites are well-known and widely used materials due to their anisotropic nature and high strength-to-weight ratio; therefore, the mechanical performance of these materials is crucial. Precise tensile testing is essential to obtain material properties that are crucial for the design stage of composite structures. This study is an effort to investigate the effect of adhesive materials used for tabbing process, which is necessary for the tensile testing procedure. Araldite and AF 163-2k film are used as the adhesive film, whereas in the case of AF 163-2k, tabbing is done through two different procedures (Jig and corner holes method). Apart from the tensile performance, strain distribution and damage progression are monitored simultaneously using digital image correlation (DIC) and acoustic emission (AE) analysis. It is observed that there is no significant difference in the ultimate tensile strength of these composites tabbed with different adhesives and procedures. Nevertheless, the first major failure strength is much higher in Araldite tabbed specimens compared to AF 163-2k film (the first major failure activity is defined as a point at which material loses its integrity, especially when considering structural or aerospace applications). Also, strain distribution throughout the gauge length recorded via DIC is appreciably different, which is attributed to damage accumulation and progression monitored by AE analysis. The frequency-based analysis of AE data is performed to classify the damage, and cumulative energy is correlated with the DIC to navigate the failure activity at different times and stress levels.