Interlaminar Shear and Electrical Resistance Responses of Woven-Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced-Polymer Composite Laminates at Cryogenic Temperatures From Cyclic Short Beam Shear Tests

Abstract This paper studies the interlaminar shear and electrical resistance responses of woven-carbon-fiber-reinforced-polymer (CFRP) composite laminates subjected to fatigue loading at cryogenic temperatures. Fatigue tests were conducted on the composite specimens at room temperature and liquid-hydrogen temperature (20 K) using the short beam shear method, and measurements of the specimen electrical resistance were made during the tests. Also, the tested specimens were examined by microscopy to observe the damage and the failure mode. In addition, a finite-element analysis was performed to examine the stress distributions in the short beam shear specimens. The dependence of the interlaminar shear fatigue performance of the woven-CFRP laminates on the temperature was discussed, and the applicability of the electrical resistance method for assessing the fatigue failure was demonstrated.