Micromechanisms of crack growth in composite materials under corrosive environments

Abstract

The nucleation and propagation of cracks in aligned continuous glass fibre reinforced polyester composites in the presence of hydrochloric acid have been studied using ring specimens subjected to parallel plate compression. The appearance of the fracture surfaces depends on the initial strain but is characterized by planar cracks normal to the fibre direction with little fibre pull-out. The planar cracks are separated by interlaminar cracks. A model is presented for the nucleation and growth of cracks in stress and strain corrosion conditions.