Assessment of failure and cohesive zone length in co-consolidated hybrid C/PEKK butt joint

The failure mechanisms and the cohesive zone length (CZL) during fracture of a recently developed butt jointed thermoplastic composite are evaluated in this paper. The laminated skin and the web were made of AS4/PEKK. The butt joint (filler) was injection molded from 20% short AS4 filled PEKK. The skin and web were co-consolidated together with the filler to form a hybrid butt joint structure. The crack initiation and propagation in the filler...