High Temperature Fatigue of Carbon/Polyimide 8-harness Satin Woven Composites. Part II: Environmental Effects

Abstract This paper focuses on high temperature fatigue of Carbon/polyimide 8-harness satin woven composite materials. Traction-traction (R=0.1) fatigue tests at 250°C are carried out on Carbon/polyimide [45]6 8-harness satin woven composites under three different environments (air, 2 bar N2, 2 bar O2). Part II is specifically devoted to the study of the environmental effects occurring during high temperature fatigue: strain, mechanical properties and damage evolution are characterized by Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and µ-Computed Tomography (µCT) techniques. The rich characterisation of damage extent and orientation can be naturally integrated within the context of a damage-dependent behaviour models. The effect of the environment is assessed through a description of thermo-oxidation phenomena occurring at high temperatures.