Effect of environment on flexural strength of carbon epoxy composite - An experimental approach

Structures for commercial and military aircraft must be designed to withstand the great diversity of environments encountered in operation, such as large variations in temperature and moisture, contact with organic fuels, and operation in saline environment. In this paper, three-point flexure tests were conducted to assess the effects of water, saline water, organic fuel, ice temperature and hot air on strength of woven carbon fibre reinforced composite material. It has been observed that the specimens when tested with the exposed surfaces, failed in tension and that too, at the mid-span. Substantial amount of strength loss has been noted for the environmental exposed specimen compared to dry specimens, and the amount of variations are presented in this paper.