Effect of Stress Ratio on Fatigue Behaviour of Non-Crimp Fabric Composites at Room and Elevated Temperatures

The fatigue behaviour of a biaxial carbon/epoxy Non-Crimp-Fabric (NCF) composite is evaluated at room temperature and 130o C for automotive applications. A new specimen geometry is developed allowing three stress ratios R = 0.1, R = −1 and R = 10 to be tested at 130o C without the use of anti-buckling fixtures for axial loadings. The three stress ratios show good agreement in fatigue life using an equivalent stress amplitude. The fracture...