Fatigue damage evolution in woven composites with different architectures

The influence of the reinforcement architecture on the fatigue behaviour of woven composites is evaluated. Glass/epoxy laminates with stacking sequence UD-woven-UD were produced with the woven layer at 0/90◦ and ± 45◦. Plain and twill fabrics with the same matrix and fibres were used. The damage evolution was monitored during tension-tension fatigue tests, leading to a comparison between laminates based on life to crack initiation, crack growth and crack density evolution. The fatigue behaviour in terms of life to crack initiation was found to be predicted through local stresses in the matrix of the bundles, calculated using a recent multi-scale model.