The damage process of short glass fibre (30% weight) reinforced polyamide caused by mechanical loading was investigated from the beginning on micro cracking level to the incipient crack of mm-dimension. Based on high resolution computer tomography and the X-ray-refraction technique the inner surface due to micro-cracking at the short fibre ends and the fibre matrix debonding of the skin surface of the filament was determined quantitatively. With the knowledge of the fatigue crack propagation rate and fracture toughness of the material from former research projects, it was derived that the total inner surface due to micro cracks measured by X-ray refraction is much higher than the specimen could have withstand the load, supposed the surface is in a localized crack. Hence, the damage process could be described from micro to macro level. Accompanying fractographic investigations endorse the modelling based on the NDT-techniques.
Fracture mechanics approaches are increasingly applied for the characterization of epoxy resin and adhesive mechanical properties. Therefore, the fracture toughness and crack resistance under static load ISO 13586 [1] are often regarded as state of the art to analyse material improvements. However, experimental investigations on fatigue behaviour, thus the crack propagation according to ISO 15850 [2], seem to be much more sensitive to characterize the materials for in service loading conditions. Firstly, an efficient testing concept was developed at BAM. In this framework, the geometry for a modified single edge notched tensile specimen (SET) was developed in order to assure appropriate resolution in measuring the crack length via a CCD-camera [3]. In the next step, the influence of the cure temperature on the fracture-mechanical properties was investigated.