Analytical compliance method

for Mode I interlaminar fracture

toughness testing of composites
K KAGEYAMA* T. KOt~AYASHI** and T.-W. CHOU t
(*Agency of Industrial Science and Technology/**Science University of Tokyo,
Japan/t University of Delaware, USA)

An analytical compliance method hasbeen successfully applied to

Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness tests for laminated composites.
A new double cantilever beam (DCB) specimen was designed to
measure load-line crack opening displacement with high accuracy, and
an interpolation function proposed to calculate the crack length and the
energy release rate from the analytical results of compliance of the DCB
specimen. A computer-aided testing system was also developed based
on the analytical compliance method. Unidirectionally reinforced
carbon/epoxy laminates were tested by the computer-aided testing
system in which the measurement of crack length and fracture
toughness was carried out automatically. The validity of the analytical
compliance method was confirmed theoretically and experimentally.
Results of acoustic emission (AE) indicated good correlation between
the AE amplitude and fracture toughness. Constant Felicity ratio was
also observed during stable crack propagation.

Key words: composite materials; interlaminar fracture toughness;

Mode I; double cantilever beam specimen; compliance; crack length;
energy release rate; computer-aided testing; acoustic emission;
carbon fibres; epoxy resin

Fibre composites have excellent mechanical properties
in the fibre direction. However, the interlaminar
strength is often a limiting factor in the use of
composites, and the failure of composite structures is
mainly a result of delamination. Therefore,
measurements and predictions of interlaminar strength
are essential to a fail-safe design based upon
composites. Three-point bend of short beams has been
commonly applied for estimating interlaminar shear
strength, but it is difficult to obtain reasonable results
in the case of tough polymer-matrix composites
because shear failures do not occur. Recently, the
relationship between fracture toughness and energy
release rate during the delamination has been
investigated from the viewpoint of linear fracture
mechanics) -s Double cantilever beam (DCB)
specimens are used in a Mode I test and a compliance
method is commonly applied to the data reduction
based on the elementary beam theory, The fracture
toughness, Gjc, is derived from an experimental
relationship between the compliance and crack length,
0010-4361/87/O50393-07 $3.00 1987 Butterworth Et Co (Publishers) Ltd
COMPOSITES. VOLUME 18. NUMBER 5. NOVEMBER 1987
assuming GIC is constant during crack propagation.
In the present paper, an analytical compliance method
is developed and applied to Mode I interlaminar
fracture toughness testing of composite laminates. The
method is based on the analytical relationship between
the crack length and compliance of DCB specimens,
and Gic is obtained from the compliance without
direct measurement of crack length. A finite element
analysis is carried out to obtain the compliance of the
DCB specimen. Load-line crack opening displacement
(load-line COD) is measured with high accuracy in the
tests. The analytical compliance method and the
measuring system of the load-line COD is applied to a
computer-aided testing system. Continuous measuring
of GIc is possible with this testing system, and an
improvement is made on the reliability of experimental
data. The method is successfully applied to laminates
with large thicknesses where the interlaminar strength
is important. Acoustic emission (AE) is measured
during the test in order to examine microscopic
fracture processes.
393
SPECIMEN CONFIGURATIONAND MATERIAL
Specimen configuration
In this work the crack length, a, and energy release
rate, G, of DCB specimens were measured using an
analytical relation of compliance. This method is
termed the 'analytical compliance method' in the
present paper. In order to apply the analytical
compliance method, the configuration of DCB
specimens must be such that the load-line crack
opening displacement can be readily measured.
Furthermore, the loading system should have sufficient
stiffness for stable crack growth.
In fulfilling these requirements, a new DCB fixture, as
shown in Fig. 1, has been designed. A pair of Z-shaped
aluminium blocks with a loading hole were bonded on
the upper and lower surfaces of the composite laminate
specimen with an initial crack. The DCB specimen was
loaded in transverse tension through a pair of loading
pins. COD along the load line was recorded using an
extensometer with a gauge length of 25 mm. It should
be noted that, in the conventional method of Mode I
interlaminar fracture toughness testing, the cross-head
displacement is commonly used in place of COD.
However, the cross-head displacement is sensitive to
the stiffness of the loading system and thus is influen-
ced by the deformation of the gripping fixture and
testing machine.
Materials
Unidirectional carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy (carbon/
epoxy) (0)40 laminates made from Toray prepreg
P305/25 (T300/#2500) were used for the DCB
specimens. The nominal single-ply thickness and
specimen thickness were 0.25 mm and 10 mm,
respectively. Laminates with a fibre volume fraction, Vf,
of 60% were prepeared using the autoclave technique.
The laminate in-plane properties are shown in Table 1.
The longitudinal Young's modulus, EL, was determined
from a four-point bend specimen with a thickness of
5 mm, which conicides with the cantilever height of the
Table 1. In-plane properties of carbon/epoxy
laminates
Longitudinal modulus, EL (GPa) 108
Transverse modulus, ET (GPa) 7.8
Transverse shear modulus, GET (GPa) 4.1
Poisson's ratio, YLT 0.34
Longitudinal tensile strength, FL (MPa) 1680
Transverse tensile strength, FT (MPa) 57.2
Transverse shear strength, FLT ( M Pa) 71.6
DCB specimen used in this paper. The bend test was
chosen because the major mode of deformation in DCB
specimens is flexural instead of tensile. Other elastic
and strength properties in Table 1 were measured using
tensile specimens with a thickness of 2 mm.
Initial cracks
An initial crack of 25 mm in length was introduced
into the midplane of a specimen by inserting a very
thin PTFE film (10-30/~m in thickness) between the
lay-ups during fabrication. The method has been
commonly used to introduce a sharp crack in
laminates. However, from the viewpoint of quality
assessment, it may be necessary to introduce an initial
crack mechanically when specimens are prepared from
finished products such as structural members. In order
to assess the suitability of machined initial cracks,
notches with widths of 0.3 and 0.8 mm were introduced
by a grinding cutter.
COMPLIANCE OF DCB SPECIMEN
Purpose of analysis
The purpose of the following analysis was to achieve
an accurate solution of the compliance of DCB
specimens. Once the relationship between crack length
and compliance is established, there is no need to
follow the extension of a crack experimentally nor to
record the crack length; hence automated testing
becomes possible.

B Loading direction

2H = IO
B =20
o =25

AE transducers

25
(coD)
\
~ H

Crock Fibre orientation

L= I00

ped aluminium block

Loading direction

Fig. 1 New DCB specimen (all dimensionsin n~m)

394 COMPOSITES. NOVEMBER 1987

The deformation of cantilever beams has been
examined by researchers 9 within the framework of
beam theory; the analytical results, although concise
and easy to use, often neglect the effects of finite
boundaries and loading points. In order to obtain a
more accurate solution for the DCB specimen, two-
dimensional finite element analysis has been carried
out and effects of finite boundaries taken into account.
Then, compliance and energy release rate were
obtained in polynomial form from the numerical
results. The effect of fibre bridging on the compliance
is not considered in the present analysis.
The subscripts L and T represent in-plane co-ordinates
which are longitudinal and transverse to the fibre
direction, respectively, and Z represents the direction
through the thickness. In the case of unidirectionally
reinforced composite materials, it can be assumed that
properties of T and Z directions are identical, that is,
Ez = ET, GLZ = GLT and vLZ = VLT. These
assumptions are adopted in the present paper.
Approximation by cantilever beam
A DCB specimen was approximated by a pair of
cantilever beams and the compliance obtained by
adopting the assumption of the classical beam theory.
The composite material is orthotropic with the crack
on one of the planes of symmetry. In the case of
isotropic materials, an exact solution for a cantilever
beam has been given by T i m o s h e n k o ) Replacing E
and G in the equation by EL and GLz, the compliance,
X, of the DCB specimen is obtained as follows:
8(a + ao) 3 3a
~, =- 6[P - + - - (1)
ELBH 3 GLzBH
where H denotes beam thickness, B is the width of
beam, P is the applied load and 8 is COD. Also, a
represents crack length and a0 denotes a correction of
the crack length for bending deformation. (a + a0)
represents the effective length of the cantilever as
shown in Fig. 2. a0 is introduced to make a correction
to the compliance in the range of short crack lengths?
On the right-hand side of Equation (1), the first term
represents the bending deformation and the second
term is due to the shear deformation, a0 is about H/3
for isotropic materials: 9 it is much larger than H/3 in
the case of highly orthotropic materials such as
unidirectionally reinforced composites and hence it
cannot be neglected, a0 has been obtained in the
present analysis by using a finite element method. The
value of a0 obtained from analysis for unidirectional
carbon/epoxy laminate is about 2H.
P~ L _o
i 0o
i-
Fig. 2 Schematic view of a cantilever beam approximation to the
deformation of the DCB specimen
COMPOSITES. NOVEMBER 1987
Energy release rate, G, is calculated from the
compliance as:
p2 a~,
c - 2B ~a (2)
Finite element analysis
Equation (l) is derived from beam theory by assuming
the simple specimen configuration shown in Fig. 2. But
in the case of an actual DCB specimen - - as shown, for
example, in Fig. 1 - - the effects of the specimen
configuration and loading condition on the compliance
may not be negligible. Therefore, in order to obtain
more accurate solutions of the compliance and energy
release rate, the deformation of the DCB specimen in
Fig. 1 has been analysed numerically by using two-
dimensional finite element method. An isoparametric
rectangular element with eight nodes for orthotropic
materials was used for the analysis. A triangular
element with constant strain has not been used for this
in-plane bending problem because the displacement
functions of the triangular element do not have a term
o f x y which represents bending deformation.
In order to examine the accuracy of the finite element
method, a cantilever beam with a known exact
solution 1 was analysed by this method. Numerical
error mainly depends on the n u m b e r of elements, N,
and Fig. 3 shows the relationship between the error in
displacement and the inverse of element number, 1/N.
In the case that N is 256, numerical error is only 0.01%
and the accuracy of the method is confirmed.
The breakdown of elements of the DCB specimen
model is shown in Fig. 4. The total numbers of
elements and nodes in the present analysis were 359
and 1296, respectively. Plane strain condition was
assumed. The crack length and beam height ratio, a/H,
1, Looding L ,.j
"l
L =160
H=5
N : Number of elements
~
0.0 - O
er beom theory
o~
ID
c .0 FEM X
E
o
2 0 I I I I
I I I I
<->
Fig. 3 Numerical error in finite element analysis of cantilever beam
(dimensions in mm)
395
 Looding

Elements : ~ 8 0
Nodes: 1296

CrQck t i p
Region A

iiJ [ l l l l l l l l l l l l t l l l l l l l l l
L I I I I I I I I I I , , I I I I I I I I ' I
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ' . . . . .
I I I
' ' I I I
I I I I I I

. . . . i:
iiiiiii
\
A

Fig. 4 Finite element grids of DCB specimen

surfaces of the initial crack on compliance, is not

negligible. Therefore, the crack width of 0.8 m m was
4.0 adopted in the present analysis.

Results o f finite element analysis

The normalized relationships between crack length
Notch width (ram) and compliance are shown in Fig. 5 for the different
initial crack widths of 0 m m and 0.8 mm. An
O 0.8
interpolation function has been obtained from
n 0.0
numerical analysis using the least-squares method.
Normalized crack length, a/H, is given as a polynomial
function of the cube root of normalized compliance,
.O
7 = (BEES~P)~/3, as follows:
E
o
G
2.0 ~-- = Ca'),3 + C2"72 + C1"( + Co (3)
t~

E The coefficients Ci for initial crack widths of 0 m m and

Z 0.8 m m are given in Table 2. The energy release rate, G,
is given as a function of the cube root of normalized
1,0 compliance, 7, from Equation (2) and (3):
2

G - 2EL~ 3Ca'Y2 + 2C2"r +C1

O.0 I I I
The significafice of Equation (4) is that the energy
0.O 5.0 I0.O 15.0
release rate can be estimated from the compliance data
Normolized crock length, o/H - - that is, from the load/COD curve - - without
Fig. 5 Numerical results of compliance analysis measuring crack length.

was changed from four to 16 in incremental steps of
0.4. Unit load was applied on the pin hole (see Fig. l),
and the load-line displacement, 8, for the gauge length
of 25 m m was used to calculate the compliance, 8/P.
Elastic moduli in Table 1 and of aluminium alloy were
used for the numerical calculation, Effects of the adhe-
sive layer between the laminate and aluminium blocks are
neglected in the present analysis. In the case of the
specimens with machined notches, the effect of initial
crack width, ie, the gap between the upper and lower
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Axial extensometer and AE transducers were attached
to the DCB specimen as shown in Fig. 1. Tensile load
was applied to the specimen by an MTS electro-
hydraulic testing machine controlled by a DEC P D P -
11/23 PLUS minicomputer at the cross-head speed of
0.3 m m min -1. Unloading and re-loading took place
several times during the test to obtain compliance data
as shown in Fig. 8. Crack length was measured using a
travelling microscope in order to examine the validity
of the analytical compliance method. AE signals from

396 COMPOSITES. NOVEMBER 1987

Table 2. Coefficients of polynomial in Equation (3)

Notch width Co C1 C2 C3
(mm)
0.0 -2.1 67 0.5003 0.0 0.0
0.8 -2.680 0.5341 - 7 . 1 6 2 x 10 -4 3 . 9 2 8 x 10 -6

A load v s COD diagram consists of two distinct

U n l o a d i n g - t o - reloading processes as shown in Fig. 6; that is, the unloading-to-
reloading process and the crack propagation process.
From the digital data of COD/load values during the
unloading-to-reloading process, compliance was
determined using the least-squares method. Crack
length and energy release rate at the load just before
unloading were calculated from the compliance using
Equations (3) and (4). Permanent deflection was
J estimated by extrapolating the unloading line as shown
in Fig. 6. The analytical compliance method has been
I ./...f__j ,,c extended to the crack propagation process. The
' " Estimated compliance estimated compliance was monitored by assuming that
the permanent deflection is equal to that of the
re;;"
,','~]
COD
previous unloading stage. The energy release rate and
crack length were calculated from the estimated
Permanent
compliance during crack propagation.
deflection Examples of the output results are shown in Figs 7 and
Fig. 6 Estimation of compliances in the unloading-to-reloading process
and crack propagation process 8. Fig. 7 represents a load/COD diagram and Fig. 8
shows the change of energy release rate, permanent
deflection and load with crack length. Points marked
:350 by A and V in Fig. 8 represent the results from the
compliances during unloading and re-loading,
respectively, and the interpolating curve is the result
obtained from estimated compliance during the crack
280
propagation process. Using the analytical compliance
method continuous monitoring of fracture toughness
and crack length can be achieved with high accuracy.
210
z EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
_J
The experimental relationship between compliance and
140 crack length is compared in Fig. 9 with the analytical
relationship given by Equation (3). The experimental
crack length was measured using a travelling
microscope. The analytical and experimental relations
7O agree very well and the validity of Equation (3) is also
confirmed.
Figs 10 and 11 depict the change of energy release rate
O 1 I I I
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

C O D (ram) 500 500 - O.5

Fig. 7 An example of load/COD curve obtained from a computer-aided z~ Unloading
V Re-loading
testing
_o 4 o 0 400 - 0.4 ~E
I ot I i 41
twO AE transducers (Danegan's s9222) were analysed by GIC
the AE measuring system, model 9600/30 (NF Circuit 5 300 3oo - 0.3
Design Block Co). Gain of the preamplifier and
discrimination level were set to be 40 dB and 56 dB 200 200~- 0.2 "o
respectively.
c

COMPUTER-AIDED TESTING (CAT) SYSTEM IO0 - O.I ~,-

o)
bJ 13_
Control of the testing machine, data acquisition and
analysis of experimental data have been carried out 020 800 .0 - 0.0
automatically by a computer. Analogue signals from '~2 44 56 68
the load cell and extensometer were converted into Crock length(mm)
digital signals and stored in the memory of the central Fig. 8 An example of Gio P and 8 results obtained from a computer-
processing unit and hard discs. aided testing

COMPOSITES. NOVEMBER 1 9 8 7 397

 300
IS.0 - o] / _..-.
& Experiments 'E
Z
0 &D x x [] 0 17
"~ (5 specimens) o
=- 200
T~ i0 Specimen
OA
2 ~o.o -
&B
VC
I00 OD
t~
xE
c
~J

0 I I I I I I I I I
5.0-
5.0 I00 I 5.0
I I
I0.0 PO.O 30.0 Normolized crock length, o / H
roo. o. n = o . , z , co 0,,oo e Fig. 12 Results of Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness for machined
initial crack of 0.8 mm in width. Average G is 244 N m-1 (analytical
L J compliance method is applied)
Fig. 9 Experimental end analytical results showing relationship between
crack length and compliance (PTFE film used to introduce initial crack,
notch width = 0 mm)

with crack propagation obtained by the analytical

compliance method and the conventional area method,6
400 respectively. Comparison between Figs 10 and 11
_---. makes it clear that the scatter in the analytical
'E compliance method is much smaller than that in the
Z
area method, and hence the former gives a more
300
reliable estimation of GIc. The high accuracy of the
analytical compliance method is thus confirmed. The
0
Specimen
VO l~ average Glc values of the analytical compliance
N 2OO method and the area method are 257 N m -~ and
0 A
A B
255 N m -~ respectively and the agreement is very good.
v C The analytical compliance method gives more reliable
[] O estimation of GIC than the conventional method.
~oo- x E
W In the case of an initial crack introduced by a grinding
cutter, such as in specimens with 0.3 m m crack width,
fibre bridging is often observed and the n u m b e r of
0 I I I I I I I I I I specimens with a plane fracture surface becomes
5.( IO.O 15.0 smaller. However, in the case of crack width of 0.8 m m
Normolized crock length, o/H (nearly equal to the thickness of three plies), stable
crack growth with a small area of bridging is observed.
Fig. 10 Results of Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness measured by
analytical compliance method. Average G is 257 N m-1 (PTFE film used to The results of the specimens with crack width of
introduce initial crack) 0.8 m m are shown in Fig. 12. The average G1c value of
the specimens is 244 N m -l, which agrees very well
with that obtained from specimens with PTFE films.
400
RESULTS OF AE ANALYSIS
AE is detected immediately before the crack starts to
'E A propagate and continues for a while even after
3oo- V
_,'2 V unloading. AE due to crack closure is also detected
& & Oov 0 near the end of unloading process. AE even count rate
d 0 is very high during crack propagation.
O
0 Specimen V
~ 2oo OA Fig. 13 represents an amplitude distribution observed
z~ B during the first (al) and fourth (a4) crack propagation
VC processes in Fig. 8. As GI increases with crack
[] D propagation in the a I region of Fig. 8, the AE
x E
amplitude also increases. In the a4 region of stable
W crack propagation, the distribution of amplitude is
nearly constant. Thus, a good qualitative correlation is
0 I I I I I I I I I I observed between Gic and AE amplitude distribution.
.0 I0.0 15.0 AE events with very high amplitudes and rapid changes
Normolized crock length,o/H
of amplitudes are observed at the stage of crack
initiation in the region al. This AE behaviour in the ai
Fig. 11 Results of Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness measured by
area method. Average G is 255 N m-1 (PTFE film used to introduce initial region may suggest some effect of PTFE film upon
crack) fracture toughness.

398 COMPOSITES. NOVEMBER 1987

 120 Interpolation functions have been proposed to
Crack growth calculate crack length and energy release rate from the
I- ol -~I I~ 04 j analysed results of compliance. Unidirectional carbon/
I00 epoxy laminate has been tested by using the analytical
compliance method and the validity of' the method has
, i'.." ." ."'

.... :~!.
,I been confirmed both theoretically and experimentally.
80
"13
v
'""
. .:...
: I""":':it~i,~L,~"'
..... n. l
""~ I~.::.':~=:.":~'
:., i:..'::
...., ., ,.:o,,,:..,
A computer-aided testing (CAT) system has been
' developed and applied to Mode I interlaminar fracture
6o
h ,.,.. toughness tests based on the analytical compliance
'." :111~. ~'a "~ i'~ ,~tr," -'.
<
E method. Control of testing machine and measurement
of crack length and energy release rate have been
Discrimination level
carried out automatically by the CAT system with very
high accuracy.
I A close agreement also has been obtained between
I00 200 650 750 measured GIC values of specimens with initial cracks
introduced by two methods; these include insertion of
Time (s) PTFE film during fabrication and mechanical cutting
Fig, 13 AE amplitude distribution during crack propagation after cure. From the viewpoint of quality assessment,
specimens prepared after cure are more preferable for
fracture toughness measurements.
1.25 Results of AE analysis have indicated good relation
0 Felicity ratio ( PSN/ PUN ) between the AE amplitude distribution and fracture
Load r a t i o ( PFN/PUN)
toughness. Constant Felicity ratio also has been
observed during stable crack propagation.
I .0

0

0

0
8
0
8
0

0
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was financially supported by the Agency of
0 .75 Industrial Science and Technology, Ministry of
International Trade and Industry, Japan.

O .5 I 1
50 40 50
Crock length(ram)
Fig. 14 Changes of Felicity ratio and load ratio during crack propagation
Felicity ratio ( P s N / P u N ) and load ratio (PFN/PuN) are
calculated during the stable crack growth. PuN is the
load at which the Nth unloading process starts, PFN is
the load at which AE stops during the Nth unloading
process and PSN is the load at first detection of an AE
event in the Nth re-loading process. Fig. 14 shows the
results of the Felicity ratio and load ratio, which are
nearly constant during crack propagation Constant
Felicity ratio means that stationary fracture takes place
in the damaged zone ahead of the crack tip and, as a
result. Gic remains constant during the crack
propagation.
CONCL USlONS
The analytical compliance method has been
successfully applied to Mode I interlaminar fracture
toughness testing. A new DCB specimen was designed
to measure load-line COD with high accuracy. The
compliance of the specimen with different crack
lengths was analysed using finite element method.
REFERENCES
I I 1 Russell, A.J. and Street, K.N. Proc ICCM-IV (1982) p 279
60 70 80 2 Wilkins, D.J. et al ASTM STP 775 (American Society for
Testing and Materials, 1982) p 168
3 Riddle, R.A. and Beckwith, S.W. 29th Nat SAMPE Syrup (1984)
p 304
4 Su, K.B. Proc ICCM-V (1985) p 995
5 Keary, P.E. and IIcewitz, L.B. J Composite Mater 19 (1985)
p 154
6 Whitney, J.M. et al J Reinforced Plastics & Composites 1 (1982)
p 297
7 Devitt,D.F. et al J Composite Mater 14 (1980) p 270
8 Whitney, J.M. Composites Sci & Technol 23 (1985) p 201
9 Okamura, H. 'Introduction of Linear Fracture Mechanics'
(Baihukan. Tokyo. Japan, 1976) (in Japanese)
10 Timoshenko, S.T. and Goodier, J.N. 'Theory of Elasticity'
(McGraw-Hill, New York, USA, 1951)
AUTHORS
K. Kageyama is with the Mechanical Engineering
Laboratory, Agency of Industrial Science and
Technology. Ministry of International Trade and
Industry, Ibaraki 305, Japan T. Kobayashi is with the
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Science
University of Tokyo, Chiba 278, Japan T.-W. Chou, to
whom enquiries should be addressed is with the Center
for Composite Materials and the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware,
Newark, DE 19716, USA.

COMPOSITES. NOVEMBER 1987 399