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ToF‐SIMS studies of carbon‐fibre composite fracture surfaces and the development of controlled Mode in situ fracture
Author(s) -
Prickett A. C.,
Smith P. A.,
Watts J. F.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.946
Subject(s) - composite material , fracture (geology) , composite number , materials science , carbon fibers , secondary ion mass spectrometry , shear (geology) , ultimate tensile strength , matrix (chemical analysis) , polymer , ion , chemistry , organic chemistry
The application of mechanical test methods and time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS) to characterize the intralaminar failure of unidirectional carbon‐fibre‐reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites under different modes of loading is discussed. The development of a fracture stage that is able to generate fracture surfaces in situ within the spectrometer under a pure mode I tensile loading and a predominantly mode II shear loading is documented. The preparation of microtomed sections is shown to be a convenient and reliable method for the production of samples of heavily cross‐linked materials, such as matrix materials for CFRP composites, particularly for analysis in older ToF‐SIMS systems because of the reduced sample charging effects. Spectra from the bulk matrix material are compared with those from composite fracture surfaces. It is shown that the mechanism of failure in both of the composite loading situations is matrix dominated. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.