Environmental effects on mode II fatigue delamination growth in an aerospace grade carbon/epoxy composite

An investigation of the effects of water, hydraulic fluid and deicing fluid exposure on mode II delamination propagation in an aerospace grade composite is presented. All exposed specimens suffered a loss in delamination toughness and an increase in fatigue delamination growth rate, which was particularly significant for deicing fluid exposure. The number of cycles for delamination onset was also reduced by these exposures, although scanning...