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Polymer reinforcements for retarding fatigue crack growth in metals

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Abstract

Pure rolled, annealed copper and copper-polyimide (Kapton) laminates were tested under constant amplitude cyclic loading to determine the fatigue crack growth rate. It was found that the laminated samples could sustain a much higher load for the same fatigue life, or had a longer fatigue life for the same load. This result is due to the polyimide bridging across cracks in the copper. The reduction of the crack tip stresses due to bridging is quantified by an analytical approximation and by layered finite element analyses. Despite the low elastic modulus of polyimide relative to copper, the stress reduction is significant due to the high effective stiffness of the bridging layer which results from the thinness of the adhesive layer between the copper and polyimide. When the experimental data from the laminated samples are analyzed using the results of a layered finite element analysis good correlation is obtained between the crack growth rate in pure copper and in the copper-polyimide laminates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853

    Alan T. Zehnder (Associate Professor)

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kansas, 66506

    Daniel V. Swenson (Associate Professor)

Authors
  1. Alan T. Zehnder
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  2. Daniel V. Swenson
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  3. Thomas J. Pienkos
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Additional information

Undergraduate student, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, and summer research student at Cornell University

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Zehnder, A.T., Swenson, D.V. & Pienkos, T.J. Polymer reinforcements for retarding fatigue crack growth in metals. International Journal of Fracture 84, 307–323 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007380704762

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007380704762

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