We present an optical sensing methodology to estimate the fatigue damage state of structures made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), by measuring variations on the surface roughness. Variable amplitude loads (VAL), which represent realistic loads during aeronautical missions of fighter aircraft (FALSTAFF) have been applied to coupons until failure. Stiffness degradation and surface roug...

Axisymmetric vibration of an infinite Pyrocomposite circular hollow cylinder made of inner and outer pyroelectric layer of 6mm-class bonded together by a Linear Elastic Material with Voids (LEMV) layer is studied. The exact frequency equation is obtained for the traction free surfaces with continuity condition at the interfaces. Numerical results in the form of data and dispersion curves for th...

This paper presents both theoretical and experimental work on the heating of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) by millimeter (mm)-waves. In contrary to the standard methods using autoclaves, samples are cured using a 30 GHz gyrotron furnace. Heating experiments, showing the strong influence of the fiber orientation in the samples on their heating behavior are performed with cured samples i...

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are getting a wide range of application areas in bridge rehabilitations because these materials are less affected by corrosive environmental conditions, known to provide longer life and require less maintenance. However, there are still some concerns about their long-term performance because currently limited data exists. Moreover, the quality control a...

We proposed and studied an impact detection system based on a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor array and multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm to determine the location and the number of low velocity impacts on a carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) plate. A FBG linear array, consisting of seven FBG sensors, was used for detecting the ultrasonic signals from impacts. The edge-filte...

Nowadays, carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) composites is widely used in the aerospace industry due to its excellent mechanical properties. In laser cutting process, high powers are used to cut materials then material melts and burns leaving edges with a high quality finish. To fulfill the high demand of cutting quality, a set of laser cutting parameters of CFRP material are studied. The ...

The present paper is concerned with modelling damage and fracture in notched woven fabric composites. Previous experimental work has shown that, under tensile loading, damage at a notch in a variety of GFRP and CFRP composites based on woven fabric reinforcement comprises matrix damage and fibre tow fracture along the plane of maximum stress. It is these experimental observations that inform th...

We have recently proposed a new concept for deployable reflectors consisting of a thin parabolic carbon-fibre-reinforced-plastic (CFRP) shell stiffened along the edge by an elastically collapsible stiffener. Here we show that a stiffener accounting for less than 10% of the total mass of the reflector increases the stiffness of the softest deformation mode of the deployed reflector by 48 times, ...