Charpy impact toughness of conventional and advanced composite laminates for aircraft construction

A weight-based analysis was made of the translaminar Charpy impact toughness performance of conventional and advanced composite materials for aircraft fabrication. The materials were carbon-epoxy (C-Ep) and hybrid fiber-metal TiGr (Titanium-Graphite) laminates. 5 mm-thick three-point bend specimens were tested over a temperature range of -70 to 180 ºC to reproduce typical in-service conditions of supersonic jetliners. The energies required for...