Hot-wet compression testing of impact damaged composite laminates

An experimental study of compression-after-impact(CAT) performance of carbon/epoxy laminated composite under hot-wet conditions is presented in this paper. Two types of impact are considered: by drop-weight and by projectile. Procedure used for impacting and accelerated environmental aging of specimens to simulate environmental degradation are discussed. Problems encountered during the testing of aged specimens at elevated temperature are highlighted. The results obtained are presented and discussed bringing out the difference in damage accrual due to different impacting and the influence of the environmental degradation on the residual compression strength. The test results appear to indicate that the specimens with large damage do not show significant further reduction due to hot-wet environment unlike the specimens with small impact damage. This is explained on the basis of different failure modes observed in two cases.