Abstract

In this work, the authors propose an experimental study on the possible improvement of the mechanical behaviour produced by ultra-thin plies in laminates subjected to cyclic loading after impact. More specifically, this work introduces the use of these plies in carbon fibre quasi-isotropic laminates, with the aim of studying the evolution of impact damage under tensile cyclic loads. To this aim, the behaviour of quasi-isotropic laminates consisting of conventional thickness plies is compared with laminates with 90° ultra-thin plies, keeping the same stacking sequence. When considering the same loading level, the damage evolution shows a lower progress and a later failure for the laminates containing ultra-thin plies.