The Interlaminar Fracture Behaviour of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastics at Low Temperatures

The low-temperature fracture properties of a carbon fibre reinforced epoxy composite have been investigated by conducting a series of mode I, mode II, interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) and drop-weight impact tests at temperatures between — 194 and 23 °C. Initial tests on the pure epoxy indicated that the mode I fracture toughness of the pure resin increased steadily with reducing temperature. Similar trends were observed in the ILSS and mode II data where increases of up to 100 per cent were observed over the range of temperatures examined. No appreciable temperature dependence was observed, however, in either the mode 1 fracture data or the overall impact damage area.