Failure mechanisms in open-hole laminated composites under tensile loading using acoustic emission

Carbon/epoxy composites have been used frequently in several structures due to their incredible ratio of strengths to weights. In this regard, investigation and classification of damages in composite structures are essential to prevent any probable happenings and to enhance the reliability. Such failures can be generally categorized into 4 groups, including matrix cracking, fiber breakage, debonding of fibers from the matrix, and the delamination. One of the new methods for detection of defects in composites is to utilize the acoustic emission approach. Accordingly, the aim of this article is to investigate and classify the different types of failure mechanisms in open-hole laminate composite specimens under tensile loading using acoustic emission. First, an open-hole specimen was examined under tensile loading based on ASME standards. Then, elastic waves due to failures in the specimen were recorded by wide-band acoustic emission sensors. Two methods have been utilized to detect the failure percent, including Pocket wavelet transform and Fuzzy clustering approaches. Results from these methods were compared to micro-structure images by the scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that about 50% of damages corresponds to debonding, about 30% comes from matrix cracking, and 20% is relevant to fiber breakage. In addition, the difference between two considered methods was 7%. Obtained results in this research indicated the appropriate efficiency of the acoustic emission approach to detect the type of failures and their percent in laminate composites.