Ja. Holmberg et La. Berglund, MICROMECHANISMS OF DELAMINATION FAILURE IN RTM U-BEAMS, Composites. Part A, Applied science and manufacturing, 28(8), 1997, pp. 709-717
In a previous study, resin transfer moulded U-beams were subjected to
opening tensile loads applied to the flanges. The failure behaviour wa
s sensitive to the void content of the material. In the present study,
we use optical microscopy of polished edges to observe mechanisms of
failure in-situ as delaminations develop in the beam radius. Descripti
ons of these failure mechanisms are presented. Voids were found to fac
ilitate the growth phase of the delamination process in the beam radiu
s. The mechanisms described will be used in a forthcoming stress analy
sis to explain the experimentally observed failure behaviour of beams
with different radii and void contents. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Limi
ted.