Investigation of Fracture Toughness of Carbon Fiber Epoxy Composite Pıpes Exposed to Hydrothermal Aging

Abstract

New materials produced by combining two or more materials at macro level with the aim of combining different material properties in a single material or adding a new feature are referred to as "Composite Materials". The composite material can basically consist of the main structure and reinforcement element called matrix. However, there are many production methods of composite materials such as hand lay-up, resin transfer, spraying, molding and filament winding. One of the parameters that affect the mechanical and thermal properties of composite materials is environmental conditions. Changes in properties occur when composite materials are exposed to environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity for a long time. This process of change in composite material properties over time is called aging. Hydrothermal aging process is also an example of environmental conditions where temperature and humidity effects can be seen together and materials can be exposed to these effects. In the study, epoxy resin, which constitutes the structural integrity of the fibers and has a wide field of study in the literature, has been used as the matrix phase by performing the distribution of the load between the fibers well. Carbon fiber is used as reinforcement material. Composite pipes were produced with a ± 55 ͦ winding angle using the filament winding method. The produced carbon fiber epoxy composite samples were subjected to hydrothermal aging process for one week, two weeks and three weeks, and fracture toughness tests were applied to the samples with the Charpy impact tester after the aging process. With this experiment, the test phase was carried out to test the composite material against impact loads and the fracture toughness was tested during these stages. In addition, this paper is conducting research and the mechanism of damage caused by the Charpy impact experiment has been observed.