| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2024 ASC Technical Conference, US-Japan Joint Symposium, D30 Meeting
|
| Symposium
|
2024 ASC Technical Conference, US-Japan Joint Symposium, D30 Meeting
|
| Presentation Title |
Mode-I Interlaminar Toughness of Prepreg Platelet Molded Composites |
| Author(s) |
Sai Swapneel Aranke, R. Byron Pipes |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Sai Swapneel Aranke |
| Abstract Scope |
This paper investigates the interlaminar fracture and mechanisms of energy absorption within discontinuous fiber composites called Prepreg Platelet Molded Composites (PPMCs). A qualitative and quantitative analysis of fracture characteristics are conducted for uniformly aligned (engineered, EPPMC) and randomly oriented (stochastic, SPPMC) PPMC configurations. The findings reveal an average interlaminar fracture toughness of 2.75 N/mm and 4.78 N/mm for EPPMCs and SPPMCs respectively, surpassing the reported interlaminar fracture toughness of traditional unidirectional composites by up to 96% and 240% respectively. Through a systematic post-mortem examination of heterogenous meso-structural features of PPMCs and fractographic analysis employing optical microscopy and CT-scanning, the study explores crack propagation paths and identifies structural attributes contributing to toughening. PPMCs are observed to exhibit a complex damage/delamination progression attributed to morphological features such as platelet dimensions, in-plane and out-of-plane platelet orientations. Evidence of various energy absorbing mechanisms such as fiber bridging, fiber pull-out, crack bifurcation, and crack tortuosity are reported to contribute to the improved apparent toughness of PPMCs. Additionally, the study assesses the suitability of conventional mode-I data reduction schemes for toughness computations in PPMC systems. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Definite: Post-meeting proceedings |