Graphene was used as an additive in fiber-reinforced plastics. The apparent interfacial shear strength (IFSS) was improved by grafting graphene onto the fibers. In this study, the effect of graphene grafted onto carbon fiber via chemical covalent bonding on the mechanical properties of the fibers was evaluated. This method was used to link graphene and carbon fibers via ester linkages, which are stronger than physical adsorption interactions and cause little damage to the fiber strength. Before grafting through an ester linkage, an electrophoretic deposition was conducted to uniformly coat graphene onto the carbon fibers. The purpose of this study was to establish a fabrication method that could control the density and thickness of the graphene layer covalently bound to the fibers. In addition, the optimal production process and composite form of the reinforced fibers were determined by evaluating the fiber strength and IFSS of various graphene-reinforced fibers. Ultimately, it was determined that graphene could be grafted onto carbon fibers relatively uniformly, and that the graphene layer thickness affected their interfacial shear strength. In terms of optimizing the IFSS, a thin and uniform graphene layer was best, and the IFSS was improved by 42.1% compared with untreated fibers containing sizing agents.

This paper investigates the transverse crack initiation behaviors of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRPs) in the high-cycle and very high cycle regimes. To accelerate the fatigue test up to the very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) regime, an ultrasonic fatigue testing system that can apply the specimen ultrasonic load at a frequency of 20 kHz was used. The fatigue behavior of cross-ply CFRP laminates formed with T800S/2592 prepreg was investigated. The fatigue behaviors at N = 103–107 cycles and N = 108–109 cycles were obtained by hydraulic and ultrasonic fatigue tests, respectively. The slope of the S–N diagram for transverse crack initiation showed a linear decrease in the region of N = 103–106 cycles and leveled off over N = 106 cycles. Furthermore, no cracks occurred in any specimen tested under the 90°-layer stress σ90°max = 44 MPa up to a maximum of N = 6.56 × 109 cycles.

Researchers expect carbon nanotube (CNT) yarns as an alternative to metallic wiring. However, the electrical properties of CNT yarns remain relatively low, necessitating further improvement. In this study, we fabricated CNT yarns by dry-spinning and performed several post-synthesis treatments to enhance the electrical properties. Polymer solution impregnation increased the electrical conductivity 1.82 × and the current capacity 1.58 ×, attributable to densification of the CNT yarn bundles. Graphitization (GT) increased the electrical conductivity 2.58 × and the current capacity 1.83 ×, attributable to purification of the crystalline structure. Iodinemonochloride/dichloromethane (ICl/DCM) doping increased the electrical conductivity 1.79 × and the current capacity 1.31 ×, attributable to the increased electron carrier density. We achieved further enhancement by a two-step treatment—GT and ICl/DCM doping—resulting in a 4.88 × increase in conductivity and reaches a maximum of 5.12 × 105 S/m. We observed greater doping effects after GT, which increased the electrical conductivity 1.89 ×, whereas doping for pristine CNT yarn only increased the electrical conductivity 1.79 ×. The X-ray photoelectron spectra of CNT yarn in each step indicated a positive relationship between the peak area of the π–π∗ transition component and the electrical conductivity. Therefore, we hypothesize that purification of the crystalline structure increases the electron carrier density by doping.

With the recent demand for weight reduction, structural materials for transportation equipment are being replaced by carbon-fiber-reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTPs). Therefore, techniques to join CFRTPs to alloys are needed. In this study, the fatigue delamination growth of bonded CFRTP/aluminum alloy joints was characterized. The specimens were bonded in three ways, using adhesive, direct chemical bonding, and direct chemical bonding with a nanostructured surface. The type of the specimen was double cantilever beam (DCB) specimen, which consisted of aluminum alloy (A5052) and plain woven CFRTP. The lay-up of the CFRTP was [(0,90)]9 and the used matrix was PA6. Fatigue loading was applied in displacement control mode. The ratio between the minimum and maximum displacement was 0.1, and the test frequency was 5 Hz. The crack length during the fatigue tests was obtained by compliance calibration. Fatigue was characterized by constructing a Paris diagram for each specimen type. The fracture surface distinctively changed from smooth brittle-like fracture to hair-like ductile fracture post fabricating a nanostructure and chemical bonding. As a result, the fatigue crack growth resistance of the specimen with the nanostructure significantly improved due to the hair-like ductile fracture.

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTPs) are becoming of interest to mass production industries. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of the direct bonding technique to join an aluminum alloy and a CFRTP laminate by fabricating a nanostructure on the aluminum alloy surface. The effect of the nanostructure on the fracture toughness and the damage mechanisms were investigated. The nanostructure improved the fracture toughness by about 2.6 times compared with that without the nanostructure. From observations of the fracture surface, ductile failure of the matrix owing to the nanostructure occurred, suggesting that plastic deformation improved the fracture toughness. From X-ray computed tomography observations, intralaminar failure caused by the nanostructure occurred, which appeared to be a factor for the improved fracture toughness.

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd The current study presents a novel test method to experimentally cancel out the thermal stresses in dissimilar material joints. For the commonly used double cantilever beam test the presence of thermal stresses results in a significant mode mixity at the crack tip, which varies with applied load even if the elastic properties of the adherends are similar. This is particularly a challenge for fibre reinforced plastics bonded to metals due to the large difference in thermal expansion coefficients. The presence of mode-II loading is likely to provide a higher fracture energy from experiments than if tested under pure mode-I loading, which can lead to non-conservative results when using standard test methods. To overcome this challenge a novel test method inspired by the mixed mode bending test is developed. It is shown that the thermal stresses can be cancelled by applying initial constant loads during testing, and that the fracture toughness under pure mode-I loading can be obtained under specific conditions. The test method is validated by carrying out virtual compliance calibration experiments using cohesive zone finite element modelling. As the test method relies solely on analytical calculations and can be used with standard test equipment, it is relatively simple to apply in practice.

In recent years, for the aim of weight reduction of transportation equipment, carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTPs), which have high recyclability and formability, are becoming suitable for mass production. Additionally, with the development of multi-material structures, excellent technologies for joining metal and CFRTPs are required. In present industry, joining between dissimilar materials include adhesive bonding and mechanical joining methods, however, these methods still have some problems, and therefore an alternative bonding method without adhesive and mechanical joining is required for joining CFRTPs and metals. Thus, this study focused on direct bonding between CFRTP and an aluminum alloy, by producing a nanostructure on the surface of the aluminum alloy. The nanostructure penetrates the CFRTP matrix causing an anchoring effect, which results in significant bonding strength improvement. The influence of the nanostructure on the fracture toughness for the directly bonded CFRTP and aluminum was evaluated by static double cantilever beam (DCB) testing. Due to the difference of the thermal expansion coefficients between the CFRTP laminates and the aluminum alloy, significant residual stresses are generated. The effect of the thermal residual stresses on the fracture toughness along with the resulting mode mixity (mode ? and ?) was calculated. It is found that the thermal stresses introduce a significant mode mixity of the fracture toughness.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020. Fan blades are subjected to very high-cycle loadings during the design life, so it is essential to evaluate the giga-cycle fatigue characteristics of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates. In this study, the transverse crack initiation of the cross-ply CFRP laminates in very high-cycle fatigue region was evaluated using an ultrasonic fatigue testing machine. The fatigue tests were conducted at the frequency of f = 20 kHz and the stress ratio of R = −1. In order to suppress temperature rise of the specimen, the intermittent operation with the loading time of 200 ms and the dwelling time of 2000 ms was adopted. The fatigue life data to transverse crack initiation in very high-cycle fatigue region was compared with the data of the fatigue test which was conducted at the frequency of f = 5 Hz and the stress ratios of R = 0.1 and −1 using a hydraulic control fatigue test machine. It was evaluated considering the influences of the stress ratio and the thermal residual stress by using the modified Walker model. The fatigue life to the transverse crack initiation of the cross-ply CFRP laminates in the very high-cycle region exceeding 108 cycles was on the extension of the test data in the low cycle region.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020. The present work studies the cohesive behaviour of a previously proposed novel direct bonding method for dissimilar bonding between a carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) and aluminium. A nanostructure is manufactured on the aluminium surface and is directly bonded to the CFRTP by applying heat and pressure. Double cantilever beam (DCB) testing is carried out to evaluate the bonding properties and the initial results of a method for directly measuring the traction-separation behaviour from experiments is presented. The nanostructure is observed to improve the bonding properties significantly compared to two other considered bonding cases. Furthermore, the measured traction-separation behaviour is seen to be difference for each case. Nevertheless, the applied calculation method shows some challenges related to thermal stresses and plastic deformation that should to be taken into account in future studies.

© 2020 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland. The energy absorbing performance in the progressive failure of glass long-fiber-reinforced polyamide was evaluated by using the split Hopkinson pressure-bar method. An impact compression test of glass long-fiber-reinforced polyamide was performed from –30 °C to 90 °C, and the temperature-independent energy absorbing performance was confirmed only for the progressive failure mode. To clarify this phenomenon, compression tests, interlaminar compressive shear tests and mode-I fracture-toughness tests were conducted under static and impact conditions. The compression strength and the shear strength of all specimens decreased with an increase in temperature. The toughness improved with temperature. In addition to the mechanical tests, failure-mode analysis was performed by using a three-dimensional X-ray microscope to clarify the absorbing mechanism. From the above, it was concluded that the temperature-independent energy absorbing performance results from a balance of these mechanical properties against the temperature change.

© CCM 2020 - 18th European Conference on Composite Materials. All rights reserved. The current study presents a workflow to import a fibre bundle structure of a non-crimp fabric based fibre composite obtained by X-ray CT to a solvable 3D model in the finite element software ABAQUS. The considered fibre composite is similar to that used for the load carrying parts of wind turbine blades, and each layer of the non-crimp fabric contains fibre bundles oriented in the 0◦, 90◦, and ±45◦ directions. The 3D fibre bundle geometry is first segmented in the software AVIZO and then imported to Geomagic Wrap where the geometry is smoothened and converted into a nurbs surface that can be imported into ABAQUS. The resulting stress distribution is qualitatively compared to previous experimental observations and discussed.

© CCM 2020 - 18th European Conference on Composite Materials. All rights reserved. In this study, few-layer graphenes (FLGs) were produced by new liquid phase exfoliation (LPE), exfoliation of graphite with weak acid salts. A high concentration dispersion of FLGs in low-boiling point solvents is successfully carried out, achieved by binding molecules with a dispersing function. And then graphene/epoxy nanocomposites were fabricated and tensile properties were evaluated in order to understand the effect of FLGs introduced into the resin. Graphene/epoxy nanocomposite showed improved mechanical properties. Tensile strength and fracture strain were increased by 11.5% and 55.6% compared with as-received one's. Especially, the improvement of fracture strain was outstanding, which indicated that adding FLGs had a positive impact on suppressing effect on crack propagation and improving fracture toughness of matrix resin. These beneficial results were derived from crack trapping by uniformly dispersed FLGs.

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd The effect of long-term seawater immersion on the mechanical properties and fatigue life of plain-woven carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates was investigated. Under tension loading, the static strength and low-cycle fatigue strength of the CRFP laminates greatly decreased owing to the rapid growth of interface debonding and delamination. However, under compression loading, the fatigue strength of the CRFP laminates dramatically decreased in the entire fatigue region as fiber buckling was likely to occur. These findings indicate that the fatigue strength degradation differed depending on the stress ratio and deterioration of the fiber/matrix interface strength. In addition, the fatigue life after seawater immersion was predicted using Epaarachchi and Clausen's model and constant life diagrams. These models were shown to accurately reflect the decrease in fatigue strength resulting from seawater immersion and can thus be used for fatigue life prediction of CFRPs after long-term immersion in seawater.

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd With recent design developments in the automotive industry, it has become necessary to join dissimilar materials such as aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTPs). In this study, a nanospike structure is fabricated on the surfaces of aluminum plates and directly bonded to CFRTP laminates. The effect of the nanospike structure on the adhesion strength is evaluated by single-lap joint tests. It is found that the nanospike structure improves the adhesion strength. Furthermore, combining the nanospike structure with a silane coupling treatment results in failure in the aluminum part of the single-lap specimens with an overlap length of 12.5 mm, rather than in the joined region. The average adhesion strength of the single lap joint specimens with an overlap length of 5.0 mm is found to be 24.9 MPa. Scanning electron microscopy observations of the fracture surfaces of the joined region only showed cohesive failure. On the fracture surface of the CFRTP laminate, the matrix exhibits a hairy structure due to the presence of the nanospike structure in some regions and in other regions carbon fibers are exposed due to adherend failure. Thus, in addition to an improved joint strength, the results suggest that the nanostructure will also improve the fracture toughness by causing ductile failure of the matrix.

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd The method for mass production of nanosheets is essential for fully realizing their commercial use. Direct exfoliation of layered materials in liquid is the simplest and low-cost technique for exfoliation without introducing defects in basal plane. However, the technique requires toxic and high-boiling point solvents, which makes it difficult for further processing. In addition, solvent exchange involves time-consuming processes such as filtering and redispersion. A breakthrough is necessary to make 2D-crystal-based functional dispersions. Here, we find a new method to directly exfoliate layered materials in low-boiling point solvents. Addition of small amounts of salt prevents reaggregation of exfoliated nanosheets and improves electrical repulsion. In this process, the mechanical force applied by sonication generates active carbon species at the fractured surfaces, leading to a reaction between the active carbon and the salt in liquid. High concentration graphene dispersions (1 g/L) can be obtained in isopropanol with only 5 min of sonication. We also confirm salt-assisted exfoliation is effective for the other 2D crystals such as MoS2 and boron nitride in a wide variety of polar solvents. Direct exfoliation in processable solution opens up a range of large-area applications such as high performance nanocomposites and coatings.

Research and development of SiC/SiC composite materials as structural members of aerospace engines is progressing. In order to manufacture SiC/SiC composites with excellent high-temperature characteristics, the SiC fibers which have high mechanical properties at high temperature are necessary; thus, further development of SiC fibers is considered a critical issue. In addition, the development of low-cost SiC fibers is necessary for the practical application of SiC/SiC composites. Here, the low-cost SiC fibers can be fabricated by dry spinning method. In the dry-spinning method, the raw material, Polycarbosilane (PCS) is dissolved in an organic solvent and the solution is spun at room temperature. As high-molecular-weight Polycarbosilane is prepared in advance, the infusible process conventionally required in the melt-spinning method is not required. In this study, to evaluate the differences among dry-spun SiC fibers fabricated under various conditions, monofilament tensile tests were conducted. Examination of the fracture surface and elemental analysis of arbitrary cross-sections were then performed to investigate the effects of the fabrication conditions. The tensile strength results indicated that defects were suppressed by excluding low-molecular-weight components and that heat treatment between 1300 degrees C and 1500 degrees C resulted in the maximum strength. Weibull analysis revealed that the dry-spun fibers exhibited lower tensile strength but smaller variation of fiber strength than that of the melt-spun fiber because the dry-spun fibers were more homogeneous. However, evaluation of the crystallinity indicated that the interference pattern derived from the crystal was unclear in the dry-spun fibers but clear in the melt-spun fiber. Therefore, it was suggested that the dry-spun fibers exhibited lower crystallinity than the melt-spun fiber. In addition, the dry-spun and melt-spun fibers exhibited similar C/Si ratios, whereas a large amount of oxygen was detected on the surface of the dry-spun fiber relative to that on the surface of the melt-spun fiber. Further improvement of the mechanical properties is expected upon increasing the molecular weight of the raw material and improving the microstructure.

© 2018 The Authors The data published with this paper is obtained during fatigue testing of a unidirectional non-crimp fabric based glass fibre composite by means of ex-situ X-ray CT and in-situ transilluminated white light imaging experiments. The data experimentally shows the damage initiation and progression under fatigue loading both in terms of off-axis cracks in the thin supporting backing fibre bundles and fibre fractures in the load carrying fibre bundles. X-ray CT data comparing the loaded and unloaded state of damage regions by means of a tension clamp solution are also published with this paper.

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. The current study presents a direct bonding method making it possible to obtain a high interface strength of aluminium joined to carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) plates by hot pressing. This is achieved by subjecting the aluminium to a combination of anodising, etching, and silane-coupling treatments prior to bonding. Different types of aluminium are subjected to different treatments and bonded to different types of CFRTP laminates. The effect of the surface structure on the static bonding strength and fatigue life measured by single-lap testing is compared and discussed. The bonding strength is found to be highly dependent on the anodisation conditions along with the type of thermoplastic resin.

© 2018 by the authors. Carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates are used as main structural members in many applications. Transverse cracks that form in 90° layers of CFRP laminates are mostly initial damage in the case where tensile loading is vertically applied to the 90° layers of CFRP laminates, and they are the origin of more serious damage of delamination and fiber breakage. It is thus important to predict quantitatively the transverse crack initiation of CFRP laminates subjected to cyclic loading to ensure the long-term reliability of the laminates. The initiation and multiplication behaviors of transverse cracks strongly depend on the laminate configuration, thickness, and thermal residual stress. Therefore, a model based on theWalker model was proposed to predict transverse crack initiation in CFRP cross-ply and quasi-isotropic laminates under cyclic loading in the present study. The usefulness of the proposed model was verified with 10 different CFRP laminates formed from four different prepregs with epoxy resin matrices. The analysis results were in good agreement with experimental results. The fatigue life was expressed with three constants, which related to the fatigue strength reduction, the normalized fatigue strength at N = 1 cycle, and the contribution of stress amplitude to the fatigue life, and they are independent of the laminate configuration.

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd The current work studies the fatigue damage initiation and progression in a quasi-unidirectional non-crimp fabric based fibre composite used for wind turbine blades. This is done by combining in situ transilluminated white light imagining (TWLI) with ex-situ X-ray computed tomography (CT) experiments along with tension clamp X-ray CT experiments. TWLI is used to monitor the off-axis cracks in the thin supporting backing fibre bundles present in quasi-UD composites, and a crack counting algorithm is applied to automatically count the cracks in images obtained in situ during fatigue testing. It is found that off-axis cracks not only initiate at the specimen edges but also at isolated locations inside the specimen, which could be related to the microstructural features. In addition, a clear effect of strain level on the measured off-axis crack density is observed. From the X-ray CT experiments, it is found that the UD fibre fractures initiate and progress from regions where the off-axis backing fibre bundles are ‘in contact’ with a UD fibre bundle. Damage is seen to first initiate at a cross-over region of the backing fibre bundles, and later at a region with only one backing fibre bundle. In addition, applying tension to the specimen during X-ray CT scanning is found to reveal additional UD fibre fractures that are not visible in scans performed the unloaded state. With load applied, a significant number of UD fibre fractures were observed earlier in the fatigue life than expected. Based on the observations of the study a damage progression scheme is presented for quasi-UD fibre composites.

Copyright © 2018 ASME Healing technology for metallic materials is an important subject in terms of long-term reliability and durability of structural members, a healing technology to heal fatigue crack by applying heat treatment at annealing temperature level has been discovered. In this study, the influences of plasticity-induced crack closure on healing were evaluated by obtaining the crack opening load during the pre-crack introduction and evaluating the fatigue crack propagation characteristics before and after the healing heat treatment, using compact tension specimens made of carbon steel with different test conditions. As a result, the specimen with high crack opening load showed high healing effect and were able to heal up to 95% of the pre-crack length. This suggested that the residual compressive stress due to the plasticity-induced crack closure accelerates the solid-state diffusion bonding during the crack healing process and this leads to the improvement of the healing effect.

<p>Carbon nanotube yarn, which is an aggregate form of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), is expected to be practically used as a lightweight wiring material. In recent years, CNT/metal composite yarn has been fabricated for making the CNT yarn highly conductive. While improving conductivity in the CNT/metal composite yarns, current capacity, which determines durable current value of the wiring material, has not reached practical value. In this study, composite material of untwisted CNT yarn and copper was fabricated by plating treatment for the purpose of creating a lightweight wiring with larger ampacity than metal wiring. In addition, CNT/copper composite yarns having different composite structures were fabricated and the relationships between the composite structure and electric characteristics were evaluated. One of the composite yarns had a two-layer structure in which copper was deposited on the surface of the CNT yarn, and the other had a structure in which copper precipitated to the inside of the CNT yarn. As a result of the plating treatment using a copper sulfate bath, current capacity of the composite yarn reached 6.87×10⁸ A/m² at the copper volume fraction of 28.9%, and the specific current capacity was 1.29 times larger than copper wire. From evaluation of the fracture mechanism, it was revealed that combustion of the CNTs and melting of the metal part were suppressed by combining the CNT yarn with copper, and it led to the large ampacity. In addition, it was possible to electroplate inside of the yarn by adding a dipping step to the plating process. In the case of the composite yarn plated the inside, an increase in resistance under large current was suppressed and further improvement of the current capacity was achieved.</p>

<p>Fiber reinforced thermoplastics (FRTP) attracts attention as a lightweight material for mass-produced automobiles due to advantages such as excellent formability and recyclability in addition to high specific strength and specific rigidity. Many factors influence the improvement of the mechanical properties of FRTP. We have revealed that the tensile strength of injection-molded glass fiber/polyamide66 (GF/PA) improves as the reinforcement fiber diameter decreases in the wide strain rate range in previous researches. In addition, it was suggested that by using a strength prediction model of discontinuous fiber reinforcement, if the strength can be obtained for one diameter, the strength can be predicted for other diameters. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of the strength enhancement of the GF/PA associated with thinning of the reinforcement fibers and increase of the strain rate. To ascertain the interface properties, single-fiber pull-out tests were conducted on the GF/PA and it was confirmed that the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of the GF/PA had strain rate dependency. The strength prediction of the GF/PA with the strain rate dependency of IFSS taken into account showed values closer to the experimental values than the values obtained from the prediction with an assumption that IFSS is constant regardless of the strain rate. Furthermore, investigating the factor of the increase in strength due to the thinning of the fibers suggested that the increase of the fiber strength is the dominant factor.</p>

<p>Carbon nanotube yarn, which is an aggregation of Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), enables CNTs to be used on macro scale. However, tensile strength of the CNT yarn is much lower than CNT itself, and improvement of the mechanical properties is a challenge for practical application of the yarns. CNTs composing the yarns include some defect structures and impure materials, and their presence can cause a decrease in tensile strength of the yarn. In this study, untwisted CNT yarns were fabricated by dry spun method and graphitized at a temperature of 2800°C for the purpose of improving mechanical properties. Additionally, strength of a CNT composing the yarn and interactive force between the CNTs were evaluated to clarify strength development mechanism of the graphitized CNT yarn. Crystallinity of the CNT yarn was improved more than ten times, and defect structures and impure materials was removed by the graphitization treatment. As a result of single fiber tensile tests, strength of the yarn was increased by 20~35% after the graphitization. On the other hand, strength of the CNT composing the yarn was decreased. The breaking form of the CNT yarn was changed from pulling out of CNT bundles to rapture of the bundles by the graphitization, indicating an increase of interactive force between the bundles. In addition, as a result of pulling out simulations by molecular dynamics method, it was indicated that the pulling out of the CNT bundles were suppressed by increase in van der Waals force. Consequently, the improvement of mechanical properties of the untwisted CNT yarns was not due to the change in the strength of the CNT in the yarns but the main cause was the increase in the interactive force between the CNTs.</p>

<p>The effect of stress ratio on through thickness fatigue properties of thick carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates with toughened interlaminar layers was evaluated. The unidirectional (UD) [0₈₈] and quasi-isotropic (QI) [45/0/-45/90]_11S laminates were formed using prepregs (T800S/3900-2B) with toughened interlaminar layers. The spool shaped specimens were cut from the laminates. Static tensile and compressive tests were performed. As the results of the static tests on both laminates, the through thickness compressive strength was more than five times higher than tensile strength. The fracture morphology under compressive loading was difference between each laminate. Fatigue tests were performed under the stress ratio of R=0.1,-1,-3 and -6 on both laminates. As the results of the fatigue tests on both laminates, the fatigue life decreased as the stress ratio was lower. On the other hand, the remarkable difference of the fracture surface was not observed under each fatigue test condition by both macroscopic and microscopic observation in this study. The fatigue life of UD and QI specimens was able to be evaluated by the proposed model, the modified H-κ model based on strain energy approach. The predicted fatigue life was good agreement with the experimental results.</p>

<p>Fatigue properties of the thick carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates with toughened interlaminar layers in the out-of-plane direction (Z direction) and in the in-plane transverse direction (T direction) were evaluated experimentally. Spool specimens were machined from the thick mother plates which were laminated prepregs of T800S/3900-2B unidirectionally. The specimens were attached to metal tabs to apply loads in the thickness direction of the specimen. The tensile strengths in Z and T direction were measured by static tensile tests and S-N curves were obtained by fatigue tests at a stress ratio of R=0.1. As the results, the tensile strength in Z direction was 24% lower than that in T direction. Fatigue strength in Z direction at 10⁶ cycles was also 25% lower than that in T direction. It was observed using a digital microscope that the fracture occurred in intralaminar layers in both static tensile tests and fatigue tests in Z direction. The thermal residual stress which was generated during the fabrication process and the stress distribution by mechanical loadings in spool specimens were calculated by finite element analysis. The calculated results showed that compressive residual stress applied in intralaminar layers in T direction by restraining the thermal deformation. It is found that the static tensile and fatigue properties in Z direction were almost the same as those in T direction by evaluating with the stresses applied in the nearest intralaminar layer to the minimum cross-section in the spool specimen.</p>

<p>The effects of environment temperature on initiation and multiplication of transverse crack in cross-ply carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) laminates have been investigated. Static tensile tests for the cross-ply laminates and the 90° unidirectional laminates were carried out at room temperature, 93 °C and 130 °C, respectively. The transverse cracks were observed by soft X-ray photography. The tensile strength and the failure strain in the cross-ply laminates and the 90° unidirectional laminates at high temperature decreased compared to the values at room temperature. It was also found that the behavior of initiation and multiplication of the transverse cracks in the cross-ply laminates was changed due to the environment temperature. The experimental results under different temperature were analyzed by Weibull distribution on the basis of probabilistic model. Next, the energy release rate was calculated due to formation of a new micro crack based on the Weibull distribution. The predicted transverse crack density by Weibull distribution was compared with the experiment result and the reasonability of using Weibull distribution to CFRTP cross-ply laminates under high temperature was verified. It was found that the critical energy release rate of CFRTP laminates has decreased at high temperature and the experimental results showed that the matrix strength was decreased at high temperature. Also, the fiber-matrix interfacial fracture on the fracture surface of the 90° unidirectional laminates was observed in some areas at high temperature whereas the matrix fracture was observed at room temperature. Therefore, it was suggested that the interface strength between polymer and fiber was decreased at high temperature.</p>

<p>Carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) pipes are expected to substitute for steel drive shafts to improve motorcar's fuel efficiency and driving performance. The static torsional strength of CFRP pipes formed by a modified simultaneous multi ply winding method is 20% higher than that of CFRP pipes formed by a filament winding method owing to few initial flaws. As the results of static torsional tests regarding [90/-45/+45]₆ pipes, it was revealed that the delamination from the prepreg end occurred in the innermost layer and propagated in the interlaminar area of the -45°/+45° plies before the final failure. It is expected to design stacking sequence for preventing the delamination. In this study, effects of stacking sequence on the static torsional properties of the CFRP pipes were investigated. [90₂/-45/+45]₆ and [90/-45/90/+45]₆ pipes were formed to investigate effects of lamination angle difference between adjacent plies. Maximum lamination angle difference of the [90/-45/90/+45]₆ pipe is smaller than that of the [90₂/-45/+45]₆ pipe. In case of the [90/-45/90/+45]₆ pipes with small lamination angle difference, the initiation of the delamination was delayed because the interlaminar stress was reduced. Furthermore, [(90/-45/90/+45)₆/90] pipes were formed to investigate effects of an application of a 90° layer on the innermost layer. The delamination from the prepreg end did not occur before the final failure by the application of a 90° layer on the innermost layer since the applied load on the prereg end was reduced. Finally, the static torsional strength of the [(90/-45/90/+45)₆/90] pipes was 25% higher than that of the [90₂/-45/+45]₆ pipes due to improvement of delamination resistance.</p>

© 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. In this paper, we report a non-invasive and non-destructive probing method for analyzing the MG63 osteoblast-like cells. High frequency microwave atomic force microscope (M-AFM) can be used to measure the surface topography and microwave image of MG63 cells simultaneously in one scanning process. Under the frequency modulation AFM mode, the M-AFM probe tip can scan above the cell surface, maintaining a constant stand-off distance and the created lateral forces were small enough as not to sweep away or deform the fragile biomolecules. By analyzing the results, quantification such as, the number and distribution of organelles and proteins of MG63 cells as well as their dimension and electrical property information can be characterized. The unique potentials of that M-AFM imaging biological substrates with no damaging manner and nanometer scale resolution, while the original structure and function of the biomolecules during the investigation are preserved, make this technique very attractive to biologists.

© 2016, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM. All rights reserved. The fatigue life of thick carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates with toughened interlaminar layers in the out-of-plane direction was evaluated at different stress ratios. The spool shaped specimens were cut out the unidirectional thick CFRP laminates which pile up 88 plies of the prepreg with toughened interlaminar layer, T800S/3900-2B. The fatigue tests were conducted under the stress ratios of R = 0.1, -1, -3 and -6 to evaluate the effect of the stress ratio. As the results of the fatigue tests, the fatigue life of the specimens became shorter as the stress ratio became smaller, i.e. as the absolute values of the compressive stress became higher. It was found that the fatigue properties of the CFRP laminates in the out-of-plane direction are affected by the stress amplitude from the experimental results. In addition, the fatigue life under the different stress ratio was evaluated equivalently using the proposed model, modified H-κ model, which considers the strain energy. The analytical results showed good agreement with experimental results. In addition, the fatigue properties of the thick CFRP laminates in the out-of-plane direction were evaluated with the constant fatigue life diagram derived from the proposed model.

© 2016, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM. All rights reserved. Carbon nanotube (CNT) is increasingly applied as a reinforcement of polymer matrix composite because of extremely high mechanical properties. Among several forms of CNT reinforcement, CNT yarn can be a next-generation reinforcement which enables the use of CNTs in the macro-scale. In this study, untwisted CNT yarns were fabricated by the dry spinning method using a die and graphitized in order to develop CNT yarns with high strength and stiffness. Impure materials and defective structures on MWCNTs were removed after graphitization treatment. G/D ratio was improved more than 10 times. Stress transfer between constituent MWCNTs of CNT yarns became more effectively by removing impure materials. Consequently, macroscopic mechanical properties of CNT yarns were improved by the graphitization treatment in addition to improvement of MWCNT itself.

Application of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) pipes to torque transmission shafts makes it possible to improve automotive driving performance as well as fuel efficiency. A modified simultaneous multi ply winding method was developed as a new forming method for CFRP pipes using prepregs. The CFRP pipes formed by the method have fewer initial flaws, such as voids and fiber waviness. It resulted in 20 % increase in the static torsional strength than conventional CFRP pipes formed by a filament winding method. In this study, effects of stacking sequence on the torsional fatigue properties of the CFRP pipes formed by the modified method were investigated. Torsional fatigue tests were conducted under load control. All tests were conducted at the test frequency f=1 Hz, the maximum applied torque T_max=1.0 kNm and the stress ratio R=0.1. [90₂/-45/+45]₆ and [90/-45/90/+45]₆ pipes were formed to investigate effects of lamination angle difference between adjacent plies. Maximum lamination angle difference of the [90/-45/90/+45]₆ pipe is smaller than that of the [90₂/-45/+45]₆ pipe. When the CFRP pipes had smaller lamination angle difference, the initiation and growth of the delamination from the prepreg end in the innermost layer were delayed because interlaminar stress was reduced. Moreover, [(90/-45/90/+45)₆/90] pipes were formed to investigate effects of an application of a 90° layer on the innermost layer. As the result, the delamination hardly initiated since the shear stress on the prereg end was reduced. Consequently, the fatigue life of the [(90/-45/90/+45)₆/90] pipes increased seven-fold than that of the [90₂/-45/+45]₆ pipes due to improvement of delamination resistance under cyclic torsional loading.

<p>Applications of fiber reinforced plastics have been expanding due to improvement of not only fuel efficiency but also the motion performance of some recent vehicles. Especially, the demand for injection-molded fiber reinforced thermoplastics is expected to increase because of their superior moldability, productivity and recyclability. In this study, the influence the fiber diameter has on the impact tensile properties of long glass-fiber reinforced polyamide (GF/PA) is investigated using the split Hopkinson pressure bar method. Prior to the tensile tests, an investigation of the fiber-orientation distribution was conducted in order to cut out specimens with the same fiber orientation angle from the injection molded plate. Two types of specimens, referred to as specimens with high- and low orientation angle, were manufactured using glass fibers with average diameters of 13, 17, 23 μm. In the tensile test, the GF/PA with smallest fiber diameter showed the highest tensile strength and the most significant strain rate dependency on the strength. These effects were more significant for the specimens with high orientation angle. From SEM observations on the fracture surface and an average fiber length measurement, it was observed that the interfacial fracture and the fiber breakage were dominant failure modes under the considered tensile loading conditions. It was suggested that decreasing the stress acting on the fiber/matrix interface by reducing the fiber diameter affected the improvement of the GF/PA strength. Using the modified linear rule of mixtures, the tensile strength was predicted. The predictions showed good agreement with experimental results. Therefore, it is believed that the decrease of critical fiber length is the reason that the impact tensile properties are higher for the samples with smaller fiber diameter.</p>

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. A novel method using microwaves is proposed to detect and evaluate defects in glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) laminates. A thin circular plastic film simulating delamination was inserted in GFRP laminates and was detected using microwave reflectometry. A focusing mirror sensor consisting of a horn antenna and two metal mirrors was used to improve the measurement resolution. In addition, the thickness of the film was calculated using a proposed model based on microwave propagation theory. Measuring the variation in the amplitude of the microwave reflectivity, a 7.5-μm-thick film was successfully detected in a 3-mm-thick GFRP laminate. Moreover, the calculated results of the inserted film thickness had a high degree of accuracy.

© 2015 International Committee on Composite Materials. All rights reserved. The effect of the stress ratio on fatigue characteristics in the out-of-plane direction of thick carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates with toughened interlaminar layers was evaluated. The spool shaped specimens cut out the unidirectional thick CFRP laminates, which pile up 88 plies of the prepreg with toughened interlaminar layer, T800S/3900-2B, were used. The fatigue tests were conducted under the stress ratios of R = 0.1 and -1 to evaluate the effect of the stress ratio. As the results of the fatigue tests, the fatigue life of the specimens at R = -1 was shorter than that at R = 0.1. It was found that the fatigue properties of the CFRP laminates in the out-of-plane direction are affected by the stress amplitude from the experimental results. In addition, the fatigue life under the different stress ratio can be evaluated equivalently using the Walker model which can consider the mean stress effect.

© 2015 International Committee on Composite Materials. All rights reserved. Long Fiber reinforced Thermoplastics (LFT) have been used in a lot of industrial fields such as automotive industries because of their excellent moldabilities, productivities, and high mechanical properties compared with injection molded Short Fiber reinforced Thermoplastics (SFT). On the other hand, mechanical properties of LFT are significantly low compared with continuous fiber reinforced plastics. So, improvements of them are still important study subjects. In past studies, there were some reports about the absorbed impact energy of LFT, and LFT showed higher energy absorption property than SFT. However, there have been few studies focused on strength, stiffness and their strain rate dependencies of LFT in impact loading condition. These quantitative evaluations are essential to material design for developments of impact-resistant LFT. In this study, mechanical properties and strain rate dependency of injection molded long glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics under impact loading were investigated. The effectiveness of longer residual fibers to improvement of impact properties of injection molded composites was indicated. LFT showed higher mechanical properties compared with SFT at any strain rate in this study. Increasing rate of tensile strength in LFT was also much higher than that in SFT, and significant improvement of impact properties of injection molded composites were achieved by longer residual fibers. As a result of observation of micro structures and fracture surfaces after impact tensile test, it was confirmed that the fracture occurred mainly in matrix and fiber/matrix interface in the case of SFT. On the other hand, in LFT specimens, impact tensile loading was effectively transferred to reinforcement glass fibers, and they were broken after impact tensile test. Consequently, it was revealed that strain rate dependency of glass fiber strength resulting from the slow crack growth development led to high impact tensile properties of LFT.

© 28th ICAF Symposium, ICAF 2015. All rights reserved. A method has been proposed to predict the fatigue life to the transverse crack initiation in cross-ply and quasi-isotropic carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates. The six kinds of the laminates were formed of the two kinds of the prepregs, T800S/3900-2B with toughened interlaminar layers and T800H/3631 without toughened interlaminar layers. The unidirectional and cross-ply laminates of the stacking sequence of [90]12, [0/904]S and [0/906]S were formed of the T800S/3900-2B prepreg, and the cross-ply and quasi-isotropic laminates of the stacking sequence of [0/902]S, [0/906]S and [45/0/-45/90]S were formed of T800H/3631 prepreg. Tensile fatigue tests were performed under load control using a hydraulic fatigue testing machine. The transverse crack initiation in the laminates under fatigue loading was evaluated by modifying the Smith-Watson-Topper (SWT) model, which can evaluate the mean stress effect on the fatigue life. Finally, it was found that the initiation of transverse crack in the laminates with the various laminate configuration can be predicted using the modified SWT model, and that means that it is possible to predict the initiation of transverse crack in the laminates with the various laminate configuration using S-N curve of unidirectional laminates in 90° direction.

Copyright © 2015 by ASME. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have very high specific strength and stiffness. The excellent properties make it possible to enhance the mechanical properties of polymer matrix composites. However, it is difficult to use CNTs as the reinforcement of long fibers because of the limitation of CNT growth. In recent years, a method to spin yarns from CNT forests has developed. We have succeeded in manufacturing the unidirectional composites reinforced with the densified untwisted CNT yarns. The untwisted CNT yarns have been manufactured by drawing CNTs through a die from vertically aligned CNT arrays. In this study, the densified untwisted CNT yarns with a polymer treatment were fabricated. The tensile strength and the elastic modulus of the yarns were improved significantly by the treatment, and they were 1.9 GPa and 140 GPa, respectively. Moreover, the polymer treatment prevented the CNT yarns from swelling due to impregnation of the matrix resin. Finally, the high strength CNT yarn composites which have higher volume fraction than a conventional method were successfully fabricated.

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. A fatigue life to the initiation of transverse cracks in cross-ply carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates has been predicted using properties of the fatigue strength of unidirectional CFRP in the 90° direction. In the experiments, unidirectional [90]12 laminates were used to obtain a plot of maximum stress versus number of cycles to breaking, and two types of cross-ply laminates of [0/904]S and [0/906]S were used to evaluate the initiation and multiplication of transverse cracks under fatigue loading. Transverse cracks were studied by optical microscopy and soft X-ray photography. Analytical and experimental results showed good agreement, and the fatigue life for transverse crack initiation in cross-ply laminates was predicted successfully from the fatigue strength properties of the unidirectional CFRP in the 90° direction. The prediction results showed a conservative fatigue life than the experimental results.

© 2014, Hu et al.; licensee Springer. Abstract: Cu2O grass-like and ZnO flower-like nanoarchitectures were fabricated directly on Cu powders and Zn powders using a novel thermal oxidation stress-induced (TOS) method based on catalyst assistance at a low temperature of 150°C under moderate humid atmosphere. The experiments of Al powder were also carried out based on TOS method. Overlapping migration (OLM) of Cu and Zn atoms and toothpaste squeezing migration (TSM) of Al atoms caused by different atom densities in metal oxide materials were studied.PACS: 81. Materials science; 81.07.-b Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; 81.16.Hc Catalytic methods

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014. A novel method has been proposed to fabricate an atomic force microscope (AFM) probe using CuO nanowire and a stress-induced method that can form the nanowire easily. By heating a commercial AFM probe with a film coating of Ta and Cu, a Cu hillock with CuO nanowires on its surface could be formed at the end of the probe. The thickness of the coating films, the heating temperature, and the heating time were investigated to obtain CuO nanowires with a high aspect ratio for use as an AFM probe tip. It was found that a suitable probe tip can be fabricated using the a Cu film thickness of 700 nm, a heating temperature of 380 °C and a heating time of 6 h. Probe tips (~5 μm high) and nanowires of ~25 nm diameter were obtained successfully. In the range evaluated, the measurement resolution of the CuO nanowire probe was slightly worse than that of a commercial AFM probe. However, both probes had almost the same dimensional measurement precision.

Fatigue cracks were healed by controlling a high-density electric current. The changes in the displacement distribution around the crack tip and the stress intensity factor before and after crack healing were evaluated quantitatively with a digital image collation method. According to the results, it was determined that the cracks were closed by approximately 2 to 7-μm in this study. On the other hand, the stress intensity factor decreased or increased depending on the conditions of the crack and the current applied. The physical restriction between the crack surfaces, such as bridging, is important with respect to lowering the stress intensity factor after healing. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Ltd.

Mesoporous silica-coated Au nanorod (AuNR@SiO2) is one of the most important appealing nanomaterials for cancer therapy. The multifunctions of chemotherapy, photothermal therapy, and imaging of AuNR@SiO2 make it very useful for cancer therapy. In this study, AuNR@SiO2 was functionalized to deliver hydrophobic antitumor drug and to heat the targeted tumor with the energy of near-infrared (NIR). To carry out the function of targeting the tumor, tLyP-1, a kind of tumor homing and penetrating peptide, was engrafted to AuNR@SiO2. The fabricated AuNR@SiO2-tLyP-1 which was loaded with camptothecin (CPT) showed a robust, selective targeting and penetrating efficiency to Hela and MCF-7 cells and induced the death of these cells. When the micromasses of these AuNR@SiO2-tLyP-1 internalized cells were irradiated by NIR illumination, all the cells were killed instantaneously owing to the increased temperature caused by the surface plasma resonance (SPR) of the internalized AuNR@SiO2-tLyP-1. Moreover, the systematic toxicity of CPT-loaded AuNR@SiO2-tLyP-1 on human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) was minimized, because the AuNR@SiO 2-tLyP-1 selectively targeted and penetrated into the tumor cells, and little hydrophobic CPT was released into the culture medium or blood. This study indicates that the AuNR@SiO2-tLyP-1 drug delivery system (DDS) has great potential application for the chemo-photothermal cancer therapy. © 2014 American Chemical Society.

Cu 2 O flower/grass-like nanoarchitectures (FGLNAs) were fabricated on a thin film of copper electrodeposited onto copper foils using a thermal oxidation method with a nickel catalyst at an elevated temperature under a moderately humid atmosphere. The morphology of the Cu 2 O FGLNAs can be controlled by the heating temperature, and the FLGNAs growth mechanism is discussed in detail. The photovoltaic effect of Cu 2 O/Cu junction based on fabricated Cu 2 O FGLNAs was also investigated. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

© 2014 Circuits Multi Projets - CMP. In this paper, we report a non-invasive and nondestructive probing method for analyzing the MG63 osteoblast-like cells. High-frequency Microwave atomic force microscope (M-AFM) can sense the topography and microwave image of MG63 cells simultaneously in one scanning process. Under the frequency modulation (FM) AFM mode, this powerful instrument is applied successfully to create a microwave image of MG63 cells with nanometer-scale spatial resolution. By analyzing the results, quantification such as, the number and distribution of organelles and proteins of MG63 cells as well as their dimension and electrical property information can be characterized.

With the ongoing miniaturization in electronic packaging, the traditional solders suffer from severe performance degradation. In addition, the high temperature required in the traditional solder reflow process may damage electronic elements. Therefore, there is an increasing urgent need for a new kind of nontoxic solder that can afford good mechanical stress and electrical contact at low temperature. This paper presents a method of fabricating nanowire surface fastener for the application of microelectronic packaging bonding at room temperature. This surface fastener consists of copper core and polystyrene shell nanowire arrays. It showed an adhesive strength of ~;24 N/cm2 and an electrical resistance of ~;0.41 × 10-2 Ω·cm2. This kind of nanowire surface fastener may enable the exploration of wide range applications, involving assembly of components in the electronic packaging. © 2014 The Korean Institute of Metals and Materials and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Initiation and growth behaviors of a transverse crack occurred in interlaminar toughened CFRP cross-ply laminates under cyclic loading were evaluated. Specimens whose stacking sequence is [0/90₄]_S and [0/90₆]_S were formed with T800S/3900-2B prepreg. The specimen edges were observed with an optical microscope and a laser microscope to investigate the behavior of transverse crack initiation and growth. To observe the edge surface of the specimen at arbitrary loading cycles, a replica technique was used. In addition, soft X-ray photography was used to observe internal damage. The number of cycles to transverse crack initiation was predicted quantitatively by applying the normalized modified Paris law, which shows the relationship between transverse crack density growth rate and normalized energy release rate range associated with transverse crack formation. Analytical results showed good agreement with experimental results. It was found that transverse crack initiation in interlaminar toughened CFRP laminates can be evaluated by applying the normalized modified Paris law. Moreover, in comparison to the laminates with and without toughened layers, the fatigue life to transverse crack initiation was prolonged due to the toughened layers. From damage observation, it was cleared that a transverse crack path to the thickness direction of the laminate was prevented by polyamide particles in the toughened layers. Therefore, it was found that the toughened layers dispersed polyamide particles to prevent delamination are effective for obstructing initiation of a transverse crack under cyclic loading.

In this study, fatigue strength properties of interlaminar toughened CFRP laminates in the out-of-plane direction, or through thickness, were investigated. Thick laminates whose stacking sequence was unidirectional were formed with 88 plies of T800S/3900-2B prepreg. The T800S/3900-2B prepreg is constituted of fiber layer and interlaminar toughened layer in which polyamide particles are dispersed. The material properties of the thick laminates were measured by compression test and 4-points shear test. Spool specimens machined from the thick laminates were loaded in the out-of-plane direction. Stress distributions of spool specimens were evaluated by FE analysis. Fiber layer and interlaminar toughened layer in the each ply were modeled separately in the analysis. In comparison to the out-of-plane direction, the properties of in-plane transverse direction were investigated with 90° thin laminates. To evaluate the fatigue strength properties quantitatively, an analytical equation was introduced for the results of fatigue test. The fracture surfaces of the specimens after static and fatigue tests were observed by SEM. From the observation of the fracture surfaces after fatigue test, it was found that the interfacial debonding between fiber and matrix was occurred due to cyclic loading in both of specimens. In addition, it was observed that crack generated from debonding grew in the fiber layer until ultimate fracture. Moreover, the experimental and analytical results showed that, in comparison to the in-plane transverse direction, the fatigue life in the out-of-plane direction is shorter.

The preparation of room-temperature electrical fasteners with high adhesion strength presents a major challenge at the micro- or nanoscale. A carbon nanotube (CNT)-Cu/parylene core/shell nanowire (NW) array room-temperature electrical fastener was therefore prepared, and is described herein. The shear adhesion strength of the CNT-Cu/parylene NWarray electrical fastener reached a maximum of 50.72N/cm2, which is six times higher than that of a metallic NW electrical fastener. A theoretical analysis indicated that the adhesion force of such a fastener can potentially be further improved by increasing the effective contact length between the CNTs and the Cu/parylene NW. The resistance of the fastener is 45.4Ω, which indicates that it has good electrical conductivity. © 2014 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.

To mimic gecko foot adhesion, spinnable vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) arrays, which have a higher density and cleaner surface than ordinary VACNT arrays, were prepared by a normal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process that is simple and easy to operate for large-scale fabrication, particularly compared with the low-pressure CVD process. The height of the spinnable VACNT array was tuned by varying the reaction time. The shear adhesion strength of the spinnable VACNT array (0.16 cm2) was increased from 21.4 ± 1.7 to 85.8 ± 8.7 N cm-2 when the length of the spinnable VACNT array increased from 35 to 110 μm. Based on the enhanced van der Waals force induced by the large number of contact points on the high-density spinnable VACNT array, the maximum shear adhesion strength of the spinnable VACNT array (0.16 cm2) is 91.8 N cm-2, which is comparable to that of the CNT-based adhesive (∼100 N cm-2) prepared by the low-pressure CVD process. Moreover, a spinnable VACNT array adhesive was prepared over a large area, and a maximum weight of 3.0 Kg was supported successfully by a spinnable VACNT array adhesive with a contact area of 0.96 cm2. © 2014 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

The traditional bonding technology in electronic assembly relies on high-temperature processes, such as reflow soldering or curing of adhesives, which result in undesired thermal excursions and residual stress at the bonding interface. Therefore, there is an urgent need to attach electronic components on the circuit board with good mechanical and electrical properties at room temperature. In this paper, a room-temperature electrical surface fastener consisting of copper/parylene core/shell nanowire (NW) arrays were prepared, and van der Waals (VDW) forces were utilized to interconnect the core/shell NWs. Interestingly, the Parylene C film becomes conductive due to dielectric breakdown when the thickness of it is miniaturized to nanoscale. Our electrical surface fastener exhibits high macroscopic adhesion strength (∼25 N/cm 2) and low electrical resistance (∼4.22 × 10-2 Ω·cm2). Meanwhile, a new theoretical model based on VDW forces between the NWs is proposed to explain the adhesion mechanism of the core/shell structure. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

A technique to heal a fatigue crack in austenitic stainless steel SUS316 by applying a controlled, high-density pulsed current was developed. A surface-activated pre-coating (SAPC), which eliminates the oxide layer and coats a Ni film on the crack surface, was used to improve the adhesion between crack surfaces. Cracks were observed by scanning electron microscopy before and after the application of high-density electropulsing. To evaluate the healing effect of the SAPC during crack propagation, fatigue tests were conducted under a constant stress intensity factor. The fatigue crack treated with the SAPC was found to be effectively healed as a result of electropulsing, and also showed a slower rate of crack propagation.

A free-standing copper nanowire array was directly fabricated on a silicon substrate by improved template-assisted electrodeposition. A roomtemperature bonding technique was realized by pressing two nanowire arrays against each other. The van der Waals forces between the interconnected nanowires contributed to the room-temperature bonding which exhibited good mechanical and electrical properties. Theoretical analysis further showed that a much higher mechanical strength can be obtained if most copper nanowires could interconnect with each other. © 2013 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.

This paper presents a method of fabricating surface fastener for the application of mechanical and electrical room temperature bonding based on core shell nanowire array. This surface fastener consists of core shell nanowire array with the copper core and parylene shell. The copper nanowire array on the silicon substrate was prepared through template-assistant electro-deposition, which provided the electrical conductive function. The parylene shell was deposited on Cu nanowire array through CVD method, which provided surface compliance to increase contact areas, thereby realizing larger bonding strength. Through pressing core shell nanowire arrays against each other, the van der Waals forces between the interpenetrating nanowires had a contribution to the room temperature. This room temperature bonding technology may enable the exploration of a wide range applications involving assembly of components in the micro electronics. Copyright © (2013) by International Conference on Fracture.

Grass like architectures were synthesized directly on Silicon substrate by thermal oxidation method with nickel catalyst at low temperature. Humidity and catalyst played an important role in the fabrication of the grass like architectures. The morphology of the grass-like architectures was controlled by heating temperature. The grass like architectures were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM, JSM-7000FK), Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The grass like architectures were approximately 8-70μm in size with 1-2.5μm width leaves. The growth of grass like architectures affected by oxidation, vertical stress induced, and horizontal compressive stress was studied in details. Copyright © (2013) by International Conference on Fracture.

A novel method to fabricate an atomic force microscope (AFM) probe with CuO nanowire was proposed using a stress-induced method which can form nanowire easily. By heating a commercial AFM probe which is eliminated its tip and is coated with Ta and Cu films, Cu hillock and CuO nanowires on the hillock can be formed at the probe end. To obtain the CuO nanowire of high aspect ratio that can use as an AFM probe tip, thickness of coating films, heating temperature and heating time were investigated. As the result, the probe tip approximately 5 μm high and the nanowire approximately 25 nm in diameter were successfully obtained. In the results that the measurement resolution was evaluated, the measurement resolution of the CuO nanowire probe slightly worse than that of a commercial AFM probe. However, from the viewpoint of the dimensional measurement, the precision was almost equal between both probes. © 2013 CMP.

Using the microwave atomic force microscope (M-AFM) measuring system, the sampleof Au nanowires arranged on glass wafer was sensed with three kinds of scanning speed. As theresults shown, the spatial resolution of topographies is increased with the decrease of scanningspeed. However, the precision of microwave images is not changed much with decreasing thescanning speed. Since M-AFM with the compact microwave instrument can always implement thereal time measurement, the variation of scanning speed will not affect the microwave measurement. © (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.

The effect of ply thickness on the formation of first transverse crack caused in cross-ply carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates was evaluated under fatigue loading. In addition, the initiation process of the transverse crack was observed with an atomic force microscopy (AFM) in detail. The formation of the first transverse crack was evaluated quantitatively with the power law between the transverse crack density growth rate and the normalized energy release rate range associated with transverse crack formation. The analytical results showed good agreement with the experimental results. Moreover, from the analytical results with the cross-ply [0/90₆]_s and [0₂/90₁₂]_s laminates, it was shown that the fatigue life to the formation of the first transverse crack in [0/90₆]_s is approximately 100 times longer than that in [0₂/90₁₂]_s. Furthermore, as the results observed the process of the transverse crack initiation with AFM, it was cleared that matrix resins around fibers were uplifted on the laminate edge surface due to cyclic loading. The observation results indicate that the micro cracks are initiated at the interface between fiber and matrix resin by the stress concentration due to the uplift of matrix resins, that the micro cracks grow to the thickness direction in 90&deg; plies with concatenating the interfacial cracks and that the transverse crack is formed finally.

A technique to detect delamination in composite materials by noncontact, rapid and high sensitive microwave reflectometry with a focusing mirror sensor was proposed. The focusing mirror sensor, which has high sensitivity and resolution, is expected to detect delamination sensitively. In this paper, the ability of microwave inspection to detect delamination in glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) and carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) was verified. As the results, the existences of 100 μm thick delamination in 3 mm thick GFRP laminate and 2 mm thick CFRP laminate were detected. © (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.

To investigate the effect of high-density electric current on healing of the fatigue damage, the recovery of residual plastic strain was quantitatively evaluated with the digital image correlation method. The microhardness was measured within the plastic zone at the root of notch. Furthermore, the dislocation structures before and after the application of electric current were investigated by transmission electron microscopy to further understand the mechanics of the healing effect. It was concluded that the fatigue damage was healed by a decrease in dislocation density. As a result, fatigue crack initiation was delayed by the healing of fatigue damage. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cu2O flower/grass-like nanoarchitectures (FGLNAs) were fabricated directly on two category specimens of Cu foils and Cu film using thermal oxidation method. The FGLNAs are approximately 3.5 to 12 μm in size, and their petals are approximately 50 to 950 nm in width. The high compressive stress caused by a large oxide volume in the Cu2O layer on the specimen surface played an important role in the growth of FGLNAs. The effects of surface conditions, such as the surface stresses, grain size, and surface roughness of Cu foil and Cu film specimens, on the FGLNA growth were discussed in detail.

To investigate the effect of high-density electric current on the delay of fatigue crack initiation, the dislocation structures before and after the application of electric current were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Dislocation density was quantitatively characterized before and after the application of electric current to further understand the mechanics of the healing effect. Atomic force microscope results showed that the slips disappeared locally and the slip height decreased on the surface of the specimens. Furthermore, the delaying effect of the crack initiation due to the application of electric current was evaluated by the fatigue crack-initiation model in which the accumulation of the dislocation density was considered. © 2013 The Japan Institute of Metals and Materials.

The capability of a new AFM-based apparatus named microwave atomic force microscope (M-AFM) which can measure the topography and electrical information of samples simultaneously was investigated. Some special samples with different thicknesses of dielectric film (SiO2) which plays the role of oxide layer creating on the material surface were fabricated. The measurement of electrical properties of materials under the oxide layer by the M-AFM was studied. The results indicate that the M-AFM can lead the microwave signal penetrate the oxide film (SiO2) with a limited thickness of 60 nm and obtain the electrical information of underlying materials. © Springer-Verlag 2012.

A technique was developed to heal a fatigue crack in stainless steel by controlling a high-density electric current field. The high density electric current field was applied at the tip of the crack by using closely spaced electrodes. From the experimental results, it was observed the crack closure and the bridging between the surfaces of a crack were caused around the vicinity of the crack tip after a high density pulse current was applied to a specimen. It was shown that crack propagation was delayed temporarily in the healed specimen. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

This paper presented a room temperature bonding technique based on copper nanowire. A structure with copper nanowire array growing on the patterned areas of the silicon substrate was prepared through template-assistant electro-deposition. Through pressing the tilted and straight nanowire arrays against each other, the van der Waals interactions between the interconnected nanowires resulted in the mechanical bonding and electrical connectivity. This room temperature bonding technique exhibited anisotropic adhesion properties. The maximum adhesive strength of 9.36 N/cm2 and electrical resistance of 0.3 (areas, A3.14 mm2) were obtained. Hence, it might have important implications for the assembly of components in the micro electronics. © 2012 IEEE.

The formation of a first transverse crack in cross-ply CFRP laminates was predicted under fatigue loading and the fatigue limit of transverse crack initiation was evaluated quantitatively. Transverse cracks induce more serious damage, such as delamination or fiber breakage. It is essential to understand the mechanism of the transverse crack initiation for improving long-term durability of CFRP laminates. Therefore, a method was proposed to predict the number of cycles to transverse crack initiation in cross-ply CFRP laminates under fatigue loading. Two types of cross-ply CFRP laminates, [0/90 6]s and [02/9012]s, of different thickness were used for fatigue tests. As the results, we were successful in predicting the number of cycles to transverse crack initiation under fatigue loading and evaluating the fatigue limit of the transverse crack initiation by the proposed analysis. Moreover, it was found that the fatigue life to transverse crack initiation in [0/906]s laminate was approximately 100 times longer than that in [02/90 12]s laminates. © 2012 by Asian-Australian Association for Composite Materials (AACM).

A method to predict quantitatively the first of transverse cracks accumulated in the various types of [0_m/90_n]_s cross-ply carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates subjected to fatigue loading was proposed. On the basis of the assumption that the mechanism of transverse crack initiation is equivalent to that of transverse crack increase in the earlier stage of fatigue within low transverse crack density, the cycles at which a transverse crack initiates are calculated by applying the normalized modified Paris law, which shows the relationship between the transverse crack density growth rate and the normalized energy release rate range associated with the transverse crack formation. When the constants of the normalized modified Paris law are given with an arbitrary cross-ply laminate, the proposed method makes possible to predict the initiation of a transverse crack in the other various types of cross-ply laminates under fatigue loading by only measuring the stress at which a transverse crack initiates under static tensile loading.

In this paper, we report a noncontact and quantitative method of evaluating and characterizing electrical properties with a nanometer-scale spatial resolution. Microwave atomic force microscopy (M-AFM) can be used to obtain the topography and microwave image of materials in one scanning process simultaneously. Under the frequency modulation (FM) AFM mode, we successfully applied M-AFM to create a microwave image of a Au nanowire with a spatial resolution of 170 nm. Moreover, based on the analytical and explicit expressions proposed, M-AFM can implement the quantitative evaluation and characterization of the local conductivity of materials on the nanometer scale. © 2012 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.

The change of fatigue damage behavior depending on an applied stress level in carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates was evaluated quantitatively in this study. To evaluate damage growth, the energies released due to transverse crack propagation and delamination growth per unit length with consideration of transverse crack propagation were derived. Moreover, the transverse crack propagation and the delamination growth were evaluated using a modified Paris law that gives the relationship between the damage growth rate and the energy released due to damage growth. As a result, it was found that the growth of the transverse crack and the delamination could be evaluated with the unique Paris law constants, respectively. Finally, it was concluded that the change of the fatigue damage growth behavior was caused due to the difference of the growth rate of the transverse cracks and delamination at an applied stress level. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In order to realize the evaluation of electrical properties of materials in nanometer scale, a method to measure the local conductivity of materials was demonstrated. A microwave atomic force microscope (M-AFM) probe which can propagate and emit microwave signals was fabricated. An open structure of a waveguide at the tip of the probe was introduced by focused ion beam fabrication. The M-AFM combined a network analyzer and an AFM was used to measure a sample. The amplitude and phase of the reflection coefficient of the microwave signals were measured, thereby the electrical conductivities of metallic materials were determined. The conductivity obtained by this method is agreement well with that measured by a high-frequency conductometry. © Springer-Verlag 2010.

The capability of a new AFM-based apparatus named microwave atomic force microscope (M-AFM) which can measure the topography and electrical information of samples simultaneously was investigated. Some special samples with different thicknesses of dielectric film (SiO2) which plays the role of oxide layer creating on the material surface were fabricated. The measurement of electrical properties of materials under the oxide layer by the M-AFM was studied. The results indicate that the M-AFM can lead the microwave signal penetrate the oxide film (SiO2) with a limited thickness of 60 nm and obtain the electrical information of underlying materials. © 2011 CMP.

In this study, transverse crack initiation in cross-ply CFRP laminates under fatigue loading was evaluated focusing on the transverse crack growth and saturation. The number of cycles that a transverse crack initiates was predicted by the analytical model on the basis of the modified Paris law. In addition, the lower threshold of the transverse crack formation was researched by a modified Paris-law, and the fatigue limit of the transverse crack initiation was evaluated by calculating the stress applied in 90&deg; layer where the increase of the transverse cracks was saturated. Moreover, transverse crack was observed by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) in order to investigate the mechanism of transverse crack initiation. As the results, the analytical results for predicting the transverse crack initiation showed good agreement with the experimental results. Moreover, it was shown that the lower threshold of the transverse crack formation existed, and that the stress applied in 90&deg; layer at saturation state was almost equivalent to the fatigue limit of the transverse crack initiation from the experimental results. From the observation with SEM, it was found that the initiation of the transverse crack under fatigue loading depended on the interface property between fiber and matrix.

To detect stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and evaluate its depth on the surface of Ni-base alloys, a microwave microscope was employed. An open-ended coaxial line sensor was used to increase the spatial resolution. The working frequency was 110 GHz and the standoff distance between the sensor and the sample was 60 &mu;m. The shape of SCC was obtained by microwave imaging. By measuring the amplitude of reflection coefficient, detection of SCC was achieved. To evaluate SCC depth, the attenuation constant of microwave in the crack was decided by comparing the measured microwave signal with the depth of a reference SCC obtained by destructive testing. Finally, the distribution of the depth of another SCC was evaluated by the proposed equation with the obtained attenuation constant.

To confirm the sensitivity in the measurement of electrical properties affected by the nano structure of microwave AFM (M-AFM) probe, three kinds of M-AFM probe with a nano-slit on its tip in different width (75 nm, 120 nm and 160 nm) were investigated. Au and glass samples were measured by the probes working at a non-contact AFM mode. The M-AFM probe with the nano-slit having the width of 75 nm, by which the difference of the measured voltage between Au and glass samples is 55.1 mV, shows the highest sensitivity for detecting electrical properties of materials. As the result illustrated, the M-AFM probe with smaller width nano-slit on the tip can be considered to be an ideal nano structure. © (2011) Trans Tech Publications.

We introduce a new type of microscopy which is capable of investigating surface topography and electrical property of conductive and dielectric materials simultaneously on a nanometer scale. The microwave atomic force microscopy is a combination of the principles of the scanning probe microscope and the microwave-measurement technique. As a result, under the noncontact AFM working conditions, we successfully generated a microwave image of a 200-nm Au film coating on a glass wafer substrate with a spatial resolution of 120 nm and a measured voltage difference of 19.2 mV between the two materials. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.

In order to develop a new structure microwave probe, the fabrication of the atomic force microscope (AFM) probe on a GaAs wafer was studied and characteristics of the AFM probe with different nanostructural metal coating were evaluated in order to understand the performance of the probe for the topography of materials and the propagation of microwave signals. A waveguide was introduced by the sputtering and the electron beam (EB) evaporation technique on the top and bottom surfaces of the GaAs AFM probe with Au or Al film. The open structure of the waveguide at the tip of the probe was introduced by using focused ion beam fabrication. It was found that the fabricated probes coated with the Au or Al film have nanometer order resolution. Moreover, using the Au-coating probe formed by the EB evaporation technique, microwave emission was detected successfully at the tip of the probe by approaching an Au film sample. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.

This study focused on the initiation of a transverse crack in cross-ply CFRP laminates under fatigue loading. Transverse cracks induce more serious damages, such as delamination or fiber breakage. It is essential to understand the mechanism of the transverse crack onset under fatigue loading for improving long-term durability and reliability of CFRP laminates. Therefore, a method to evaluate and predict the initiation of a transverse crack in cross-ply CFRP laminates under fatigue loading was proposed. Fatigue tests at various stress levels were performed to evaluate the initiation and multiplication of the transverse cracks. Fatigue tests were interrupted at arbitrary loading cycles to observe damage in cross-ply CFRP laminates. The transverse cracks caused in the laminates were observed by an optical microscope and soft X-ray photography. The fatigue limit of transverse crack initiation in this fatigue conditions was indicated by calculating the stress applied in 90° layer of the laminates at the saturated state of the transverse cracks with a variational approach. Moreover, the analytical method on the basis of Paris law in order to predict the number of cycles to transverse crack initiation under fatigue loading was proposed. As the results, the predicted number of cycles to transverse crack initiation shows good agreement with experimental results.

In order to realize the evaluation of electrical properties of materials in nanoscale orders, a method for the measurement of local conductivity was presented. A microwave atomic force microscope (M-AFM) probe in which microwave signals can propagate was fabricated. An open structure of a waveguide at the tip of the probe was introduced by focused ion beam (FIB) fabrication. The microwave measurement system consisted of the combination of a network analyzer working at 44.5 GHz and an AFM were used to measure the samples without contact. The amplitude and phase of the reflection coefficient of the microwave signal were measured to determine the electrical conductivity of non magnetic metals. The conductivity obtained by this method agrees with that measured by the high-frequency conductometry. © 2010 EDA Publishing/DTIP.

A technique was developed to heal a fatigue crack by controlling a high density electric current field. The high-density electric current field was applied at the tip of the crack by using closely spaced electrodes. It was found that the electric stimulation influences the states and propagation behavior of a fatigue crack in the stainless steel. When the electric current was applied to a specimen having a pre-crack with a large opening displacement, a closure effect at the crack tip was shown and the bridges between the crack surfaces were observed. On the other hand, when the electric current was applied to a specimen having a pre-crack with a small opening displacement, an opening effect was shown. These effects were also evaluated quantitatively by the Paris law. Copyright © 2010 by ASME.

The application of microwave reflectometry was studied for nondestructive detection of glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) laminates. The specimens having different kinds of defects and dimensions were prepared. The change of the microwave signals was measured by scanning the specimens with a K band waveguide sensor which can propagate microwaves from 18 to 26 GHz. The influence of the frequency of microwaves and the thickness of the laminates on measurement sensitivity was investigated. As a result, it was shown that the defects of more than 0.2 mm thickness in the GFRP laminate can be detected. The stable measurement results were obtained at lower frequency though measurement sensitivity for small defects was better at the higher frequency. It is necessary to select the suitable frequency for the measurement objectives because the interference due to the reflection waves from the top and bottom surfaces of the measurement objectives is caused depending on the objective and defect dimensions. In addition, it was shown that the defect of an aluminum film can be detected within the GFRP laminates of 30 mm thickness.

High-cycle fatigue features of over 108 cycles, particularly the initiation and propagation of edge delamination considering the effects of transverse cracks, were investigated using quasi-isotropic carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates with a stacking sequence of [45/0/-45/90]s in this study. In the relationship between a transverse crack density and initiation and growth of edge delamination, it was found that fatigue damage growth behavior varied depending on applied stress. It was observed that edge delamination initiated and grew at parts where transverse cracks were dense at ordinary applied stress, whereas it was observed that edge delamination grew before or simultaneously with transverse crack propagation at a low applied stress and high-cycle loading. In addition, the critical transverse crack density where delamination begins growing was calculated to evaluate the interaction between transverse crack and edge delamination growth. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High-cycle fatigue features of over 108 cycles, particularly the initiation and propagation of edge delamination considering the effects of transverse cracks, were investigated using quasi-isotropic carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates with a stacking sequence of [45/0/-45/90]s in this study. In the relationship between a transverse crack density and initiation and growth of edge delamination, it was found that fatigue damage growth behavior varied depending on applied stress. It was observed that edge delamination initiated and grew at parts where transverse cracks were dense at ordinary applied stress, whereas it was observed that edge delamination grew before or simultaneously with transverse crack propagation at a low applied stress and high-cycle loading. In addition, the critical transverse crack density where delamination begins growing was calculated to evaluate the interaction between transverse crack and edge delamination growth. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The high-cycle fatigue characteristics focused on the behavior of the transverse crack growth up to 108 cycles were investigated using quasi-isotropic carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates whose stacking sequence was [-45/0/45/90]s. To assess the fatigue behavior in the high-cycle region, fatigue tests were conducted at a frequency of 100 Hz in addition to 5 Hz. In this study, to evaluate quantitative characteristics of the transverse crack growth in the high-cycle region, the energy release rate considering the free-edge effect was calculated. Transverse crack growth behavior was evaluated based on a modified Paris law approach. The results revealed that transverse crack growth was delayed under the test conditions of the applied stress level of σmax/σb = 0.2. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In order to develop a new structure microwave probe, the fabrication of the atomic force microscope (AFM) probe on a GaAs wafer was studied and characteristics of the AFM probe with different nanostructural metal coating were evaluated in order to understand the performance of the probe for the topography of materials and the propagation of microwave signals. The fabricated probe had a tip of 8 ìm high and curvature radius approximately 30 nm. The dimensions of the cantilever are 250×30×15 ìm. A waveguide was introduced by the sputtering and the electron beam (EB) evaporation technique on the top and bottom surfaces of the GaAs AFM probe with Au or Al film. The open structure of the waveguide at the tip of the probe was introduced by using focused ion beam (FIB) fabrication. AFM topography of a grating sample was measured by using each fabricated probe. It was found that the fabricated probes coated with the Au or Al film have nanometer order resolution. Moreover, using the Au-coating probe formed by the EB evaporation technique, microwave emission was detected successfully at the tipof the probe by approaching an Au film sample. ©EDA Publishing/DTIP 2009.

The behavior of transverse crack growth and delamination growth under high-cycle fatigue loadings was investigated with cross-ply CFRP laminates, [0/90₂]_s and [0/90₆]_s, and quasi-isotropic CFRP laminates, [45/0/-45/90]_s. As a result, it was observed that the behavior of damage growth was different depending on the applied stress level. The growth of local or edge delamination was exacerbated under the test conditions of a low applied stress level and high-cycle loadings, because the areas of stress concentration were applied with high-cyclic loadings. On the other hand, when the fatigue tests were conducted under the applied stress level of 40% of the transverse crack initiation, the growth of transverse cracks was hardly observed until 10⁸ cycles with [0/90₂]_s, [0/90₆]_s and [45/0/-45/90]_s laminates.

A variational approach is presented to evaluate the 3-dimensional stress state in cross-ply laminates of the form [(S)/90n]s that contain transverse cracks in the 90° plies, where (S) is any orthotropic sublaminate. Admissible stress states that satisfy equilibrium and all boundary and interface conditions are constructed, and the principle of minimum complementary energy is employed to find an optimal approximation of the composite strain energy. Using this method of analysis, we can express the stress state by considering the free-edge effect, which causes edge delamination in cracked laminates. The calculated results using the proposed model showed good agreement with the results calculated by the finite element method. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-cycle fatigue characteristics of quasi-isotropic carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates [-45/0/45/90]s up to 108 cycles were investigated. To assess the fatigue behavior in the high-cycle region, fatigue tests were conducted at a frequency of 100 Hz, since it is difficult to investigate the fatigue characteristics in high-cycle at 5 Hz. Then, the damage behavior of the specimen was observed with a microscope, soft X-ray photography and a 3D ultrasonic inspection system. In this study, to evaluate quantitative characteristics of both transverse crack propagation and delamination growth in the high-cycle region, the energy release rate associated with damage growth in the width direction was calculated. Transverse crack propagation and delamination growth in the width direction were evaluated based on a modified Paris law approach. The results revealed that transverse crack propagation delayed under the test conditions of less than σ © 2007 VSP. max/σ b = 0.3 of the applied stress level. © 2007 VSP.

The high-cycle fatigue characteristics, especially the initiation and propagation of edge delamination, were investigated with quasi-isotropic carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates with a stacking sequence of [45/0/-45/90]S. To investigate the influence that transverse cracks have on the initiation and propagation of edge delamination, two types of specimens are used. One was a specimen where transverse cracks were arbitrarily introduced by static tensile loading before conducting the fatigue tests. The other was an undamaged specimen as new. As a result, it was found that the single transverse crack introduced before the fatigue test did not seriously affect the initiation of edge delamination. Moreover, the difference of the fatigue damage growth behavior depending on the applied stress level was observed. Under the test conditions of low-applied stress level and high-cyclic loadings, it was observed that the edge delamination grew before, or simultaneously with, the transverse crack propagation.

In this study the fatigue characteristics of quasi-isotropic carbon fiber reinforced plastics laminates subjected to variable amplitude cyclic two-stage loading were investigated. The cumulative damage was evaluated by considering residual strength as a parameter since the Linear Cumulative Damage rule, i.e., the Palmgren-Miner rule, did not show good agreement. Further, the internal microscopic damage was observed with an optical microscope. As a result, it was found that cumulative damage subjected to variable amplitude cyclic loading could be expressed by considering residual strength. Additionally, we were able to predict the fatigue life of laminates subjected to variable amplitude cyclic two-stage loading. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Long-term durability of polymer-matrix composites (PMCs) in hostile environments is described. Characteristics of a stress-corrosion crack in glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP), creep fracture in unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) and predictions of a variable loading fatigue life in CFRP laminates are the main topics of this paper. To enhance the performance of the PMCs as structural materials, many improvements are achieved so far. Characterization of mechanical properties under the hostile environments is still need for the studies. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

This paper describes the high-cycle fatigue characteristics of quasi-isotropic CFRP laminates [-45/0/45/90] s up to 10 8 cycles. To investigate the fatigue behavior in the high-life region, the fatigue tests were conducted with the frequency of 100Hz since it's difficult to conduct the tests with 5Hz. Then, the damage behavior of the specimen was observed with a microscope, a soft X-ray photography and a 3D ultrasonic inspection system. In this study, to evaluate quantitative characteristics of each the transverse crack propagation and the delamination growth in the high-cycle region, the energy release rate associated with damage growth to the width direction was calculate. The transverse crack propagation and the delamination growth to the width direction were evaluated based on a modified Paris-law approach. As the results, it was found that transverse crack propagation didn't depend on the frequency within the small temperature change and it was observed that delamination growth delayed with the test condition of less than σ max/σ b=0.3 of the applied stress level.