FRACTURE BEHAVIOR CHARACTERIZATION OF COMPOSITE TUBES WITH HOLE DEFECTS UNDER TENSILE LOAD

Composites components are used in reticular structures, however their structural performance related to its damage tolerance has not been studied extensively. The present research is concerned with mechanical strength of composite tubes containing hole defects. Experiments involved fabrication of epoxy/glass unidirectional laminates with at least 60% volume fibre at different orientations using vacuum bagging method. Specimens were induced with different hole defect sizes to characterize crack propagation before instability conditions. Mechanical behaviour was observed in tension tests, loading specimens to failure. Fracture sequence and mechanism were established by fractographic examination. Then, the tubes were modeled according to those employed in tubular fuselages to study their mechanical performance under tensile load using Finite Element Method. Results from numerical simulation were used with experimental data in order to construct Residual Strength Diagrams.