Paper number 323

TENSILE FATIGUE DAMAGE DEVELOPMENT IN PLAIN WEAVE AND KNITTED FABRIC COMPOSITES (GFRP)

Surya D. Pandita1, Gert Huysmans1, Martine Wevers1, Ignaas Verpoest1

1 Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,
De Croylaan 2, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium

Summary The tensile fatigue behavior of plain weave and knitted fabric composites has been investigated. Fatigue damage development in knitted fabric composites is quite different from that in plain-weave fabric composites. Fatigue damage in plain-weave fabric composites was initiated by transverse bundle cracking. Initial fatigue damage in knitted fabric composites was situated at the part of the curled bundle yarn that is perpendicular to the tensile loading direction. Regarding the relative residual stiffness, woven fabric composites show better fatigue resistance than knitted fabric composites. However, both woven and knitted fabric composites show comparable results in the fatigue life and the relative residual strength.
Keywords tensile fatigue, damage mechanism, knitted fabric composites, woven fabric composites, residual stiffness, residual strength.

Theme : Textiles ; Knitted Structures

[ HOME ]  [ BACK ]