Accelerated tests of environmental degradation in composite materials

Abstract

High temperature polymer matrix composites are key candidates for the structural components of proposed supersonic transport aircraft. The operational environment of these vehicles exposes the airframe to harsh conditions, including temperature extremes and moisture. These environments have been seen to cause visible damage in polymer matrix composites in timescales much less than the lifetime of the vehicle. Therefore, there is an urgent requirement for accelerated testing of the key components of the environment. A first step to this goal is to identify the components of the environment responsible for the damage. The effects of a realistic moisture and thermal environment on two high temperature polymer matrix composites (PETI-5 and PIXA-M) have been investigated in this work. An extensive test program was developed to test the response of the materials to this baseline environment and its individual components: time at moisture, moisture cycling, time at temperature and thermal cycling. Mechanism-based models were used to design accelerated moisture cycles and accelerated thermal cycles in an attempt to speed up the response to these environmental factors. These accelerated cycles were also used in the test program. The results showed visible damage in the form of cracking in both retrials. The PIXA-M material was found to show more damage than the PETI-5. Cracking was confined to a thin layer of material next to the exposed edge. This suggests that the environmental exposure is reducing the effective fracture toughness of the material in this layer more than in the interior. Analysis suggests that this layer is exposed to more of the environmental components and fluctuations than the material in the interior. The individual components of time at moisture and thermal cycling were seen to cause cracking, while time at temperature did not, and moisture cycling did not appear to accelerate moisture damage. The combined environments in the baseline cycle caused more damage than any one component of the cycle on its own. Evidence points to the combined effects of time at moisture and thermal cycling as being the dominant parameters causing damage, while moisture cycling controls the extent of the damaged region. Although the designed accelerated cycles were not successful in accelerating the damage from the baseline cycle, they were instrumental in establishing what were the dominant parameters. It is suggested that a promising way of accelerating the damage observed under the realistic conditions is by combining an iso moisture environment with a cyclical stress environment, which can be achieved either thermally or mechanically.