• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.593-606
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• 2015

This paper presents a novel concept of healing some of the damages in wind turbine blades (WTBs) such as cracks and delamination. This is achieved through an inherent functioning autonomous repairing system. Such wind turbine blades have the benefit of reduced maintenance cost and increased operational period. Previous techniques of developing autonomous healing systems uses hollow glass fibres (HGFs) to deliver repairing fluids to damaged sites. HGFs have been reported with some limitations like, failure to fracture, which undermines their further usage. The self-healing technique described in this paper represents an advancement in the engineering of the delivery mechanism of a self-healing system. It is analogous to the HGF system but without the HGFs, which are replaced by multiple hollow channels created within the composite, inherently in the FRP matrix at fabrication. An in-house fabricated NACA 4412 WTB incorporating this array of network hollow channels was damaged in flexure and then autonomously repaired using the vascular channels. The blade was re-tested under flexure to ascertain the efficiency of the recovered mechanical properties.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.49-60
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• 1991

Fatigue behavior of carbon fiber reinforced polyimide composite materials was studied experimentally and analytically. The physical variables, such as cyclic displacements and hysteresis loop energy were observed during fatigue tests. Fatigue life of the investigated [0/90]$_{2S}$ laminates was predicted by H'||'&'||'H models which was proposed based on the fatigue modulus and resultant strain. The predicted fatigue life by H'||'&'||'H curves was reasonably close to the experimental data. Fractography study shows that fatigue failure mechanism of [0/90]$_{2S}$ laminated composite materials involves failure break, matrix tearing and fiber-matrix debonding as well as delamination of layers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Reliability Society Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.337-337
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• 2001

High voltage ceramic capacitors are widely applied in power electronic circuits, such as filters, snubbers, and resonant circuits, due to their excellent features of high voltage endurance and low aging. This paper presents a result of failure analysis and reliability evaluation for high voltage ceramic capacitors. The failure nodes and failure mechanisms were identified in order to understand the failure physics in a component. The causes of failure mechanisms for zero resistance phenomena under withstanding voltage test in high voltage ceramic capacitors molded by epoxy resin were studied by establishing an effective closed-loop failure analysis. Also, the condition for dielectric breakdown was investigated. Particular emphasis was placed on breakdown phenomena at the ceramic-epoxy interface. The validity of the results in this study was confirmed by the results of accelerated testing. Thermal shock test as well as pressure cooker test for high voltage ceramic capacitor mounted on a magnetron were implemented. Delamination between ceramic and epoxy, which, might cause electrical short in underlying circuitry, can occur during curing or thermal cycling. The results can be conveniently used to quickly identify defective lots, determine mean time to failure (MTTF) of each lot at the level of Inspection, and detect major changes in the vendors processes.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.598-606
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• 2001

Recently, semiconductor packages trend to be thinner, which makes difficult to detect defects therein. A preconditioning test is generally performed to evaluate the reliability of semiconductor packages. The test procedure includes two scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) tests at the beginning and end of the entire test, in order to help detect physical defects such as delaminations and package cracks. In particular, of primary concern are package cracks and delaminations caused by moisture absorbed under ambient conditions. This paper discusses the failure mechanism associated with the moisture absorbed and encapsulated in semiconductors, and the use SAM to detect failures such as tracks and delaminations grown during the preconditioning test.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.81-88
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• 1997

Impact behavior of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) laminates were evaluated with tension test and compact tension test. A steel ball launched by an air gun collides against CFRP laminates to generate impact damage of relatively low energy. The static tensile and fracture toughness tests were performed to evaluate the residual strength and the AE behavior of impact-damaged laminates. As a results, it was found that the static strength, the fracture toughness and the AE-event count were decreased with increasing of impact velocity and delamination area, and to have a different strength ratio and fracture toughness ratio for each stacking method. And also, it was confirmed that strength and fracture toughness of impact-damaged CFRP laminates could be evaluated and analyzed quantitatively by AE techniques.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.89-92
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• 2001

Drop weight impact tests were performed to investigate the impact behavior of carbon fiber/epoxy composite laminates reinforced by short fibers and other interleaving materials. Characterization techniques, such as cross-sectional fractography and scanning acoustic microscopy, were employed quantitatively to assess the internal damage of some composite laminates. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe impact damage and fracture modes on specimen fracture surfaces. The results show that composite laminates experience various types of fracture; delamination, intra-ply cracking, matrix cracking and fiber breakage depending on the interlayer materials. Among the composite laminates tested in this study, the composites reinforced by Zylon fibers showed very good impact damage resistance with medium level of damage, while the composites interleaved by poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) (PEEA) film is expected to deteriorate the bulk strength due to the reduction of fiber volume fraction, even though the damaged area is significantly reduced.

• Composites Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2001

A simplified method for determining the three mode(I, II, III) components of the strain energy release rate of free-edge delaminations in composite laminates is proposed. The interlaminar stresses are evaluated using the interface moment and the interface shear forces which are obtained from the equilibrium equations at the interface between the adjacent layers. Deformation of an edge-delaminated laminate is analysed by using a generalized quasi-three dimensional classical laminated plate theory. The analysis provides closed-form expression for the three components of the strain energy release rate. The analyses are performed for composite laminates subjected to uniaxial tension, with free-edge delaminations located symmetrically and asymmetrically with respect to the laminate midplane. The analysis results agreed with a finite element solution using the virtual crack closure technique.

• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.43-59
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• 2009

The current study assessed the effect of a bolt hole on tensile fatigue properties of CFRP laminates. Two specimens, i.e. $[(0/90)_3]S$, $[(0/45/90/-45)_2]_S$, were analyzed using a finite element method and were experimentally tested for cases, both with and without a hole, whose diameter corresponded to 0.12 times the specimen width. Delamination positions predicted by a 3-dimensional static finite element analysis were matched well to those observed by an ultrasonic imaging system in the middle of fatigue test. A hole whose diameter corresponds to 0.12 times the specimen width caused the fatigue strength to decrease by 9% and 11% under 5 Hz loading frequency, and by 22% and 25% under 10 Hz loading frequency for $[(0/90)_3]_S$ and $[(0/45/90/-45)_2]_S$, respectively. Because the decrease in sectional area due to the hole was normalized in calculation of the tensile strength, a stress concentration around the hole is believed to induce the strength degradation of fatigue specimens. From the finite element analyses, the stress concentration factor around a hole was expected as 8.8 and 9.5 for $[(0/90)_3]_S$ and $[(0/45/90/-45)_2]_S$, respectively.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.23 no.6 s.165
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• pp.1026-1038
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• 1999

Interlaminar fracture toughness of carbon/epoxy composite materials has been studied under tensile and flexural loading by the use of width tapered double cantilever beam(WTDCB) and end notched flexure(ENF) specimens. This study has significantly examined the effect of various interfacial ply orientation, ${\alpha}(0^{\circ},\;45^{\circ}\;and\;90^{\circ})$ and crack propagation direction, ${\theta}(0^{\circ},\;15^{\circ},\;30^{\circ}\;and\;45^{\circ})$ in terms of critical strain energy release rate through experiments. Twelve differently layered laminates were investigated. The data reduction for evaluating the fracture energy is based on compliance method and beam theory. Beam theory is used to analyze the effect of crack propagation direction. The geometry and lay-up sequence of specimens are considered various conditions such as skewness parameter, beam volume, and so on. The results show that the fiber bridging occurred due to the non-midplane crack propagation and causes the difference of fracture energy evaluated by both methods. For safer and more reliable composite structures, we obtain the optimal stacking sequence from initial fracture energy in each mode.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.115-133
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• 2011

Fiber reinforced polymer composites (FRPs) are being increasingly used for a wide range of engineering applications owing to their high specific strength and stiffness. However, their through-the-thickness performance lacks some of the most demanding physical and mechanical property requirements for structural applications, such as aerospace vehicles and military components. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon nanofibers (CNFs), due to their excellent mechanical, thermal and electrical properties, offer great promise to improve the weak properties in the thickness direction and impart multi-functionality without substantial weight addition to FRPs. This paper reviews the progress made to date on i) the techniques developed for integration of CNTs/ CNFs into FRPs, and ii) the effects of the addition of these nanofillers on the interlaminar properties, such as such interlaminar shear strength, interlaminar fracture toughness and impact damage resistance and tolerance, of FRPs. The key challenges and future prospects in the development of multiscale CNT-FRP composites for advanced applications are also highlighted.