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Effect of cure on fracture properties of a composite: Part 3 - A418

From CKN Knowledge in Practice Centre
Perspectives - A8AIM Events - Webinars - A115Effect of cure on fracture properties of a composite: Part 3 - A418
 
Effect of cure on fracture properties of a composite: Part 3
Perspectives article
A418 Video Thumbnail Image-AXyarLQkNQp8dvsdvrvfvb.jpg
Document Type Article
Document Identifier 418
Themes
Tags
Prerequisites
Webinar Date
  • July 29, 2026
Presenter
Dr. Casey Keulen

Introduction[edit | edit source]

The motivation to achieve a ‘proper cure’ seems obvious/intuitive but what really happens if we don’t cure a thermoset composite properly? How does the degree of cure affect the fracture properties of the material? How does the degree of cure affect the material’s ability to stand up to ‘hot’ conditions and/or ‘wet’ conditions?

In the third part of this series, we will extend what was done in the first two parts to look at how the fracture properties are affected by an under cure, moisture, and elevated temperatures.

In the first two parts of this series, we discussed thermal management of the curing process and identified potential situations where a composite may be under-cured or thermally degraded (exposed to excessive temperature during cure). We looked at the results of mechanical tests including tensile, compression, in-plane shear (Iosipescu), and short-beam shear (interlaminar shear strength) on specimens that have been significantly under cured, moderately under-cured, cured according to the manufacturer’s recommended cure cycle, and thermally degraded, as well as under ambient, wet, and hot-wet conditions. A recording of these webinars can be accessed here: https://compositeskn.org/KPC/A319 and https://compositeskn.org/KPC/A320

This work was done in collaboration with ZwickRoell and the Technical University of Munich under the supervision of Dr. Hannes Körber, Global Industry Manager Composites, ZwickRoell.


Presenter[edit | edit source]

Casey Keulen, PhD
Associant Professor of Teaching, Department of Materials Engineering, The University of British Columbia
Director, Knowledge in Practice Centre, CKN

Webinar[edit | edit source]

Webinar slides[edit | edit source]

Webinar slides available by clicking on the icon below

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Additional information for select chapters[edit | edit source]

Chapter Chapter Title Links to related information in the Knowledge in Practice Centre
1 Welcome & Introductions N/A
2 Knowledge in Practice Centre
3 Outline N/A
4 Background and Motivation
5 Material, cure cycles and conditioning parameters
6 Recap of Parts 1 and 2
7 Part 3: Test Parameters and Results
8 Open Hole Tension Test
9 Compression After Impact Test
10 Mode I Interlaminar Fracture Toughness Test
11 Observations and Take-Aways N/A
12 Conclusions N/A
13 Q&A N/A


Related pages

Page type Links
Introduction to Composites Articles
Foundational Knowledge Articles
Foundational Knowledge Method Documents
Foundational Knowledge Worked Examples
Systems Knowledge Articles
Systems Knowledge Method Documents
Systems Knowledge Worked Examples
Systems Catalogue Articles
Systems Catalogue Objects – Material
Systems Catalogue Objects – Shape
Systems Catalogue Objects – Tooling and consumables
Systems Catalogue Objects – Equipment
Practice Documents
Case Studies
Perspectives Articles


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Welcome

Welcome to the CKN Knowledge in Practice Centre (KPC). The KPC is a resource for learning and applying scientific knowledge to the practice of composites manufacturing. As you navigate around the KPC, refer back to the information on this right-hand pane as a resource for understanding the intricacies of composites processing and why the KPC is laid out in the way that it is. The following video explains the KPC approach:

Understanding Composites Processing

The Knowledge in Practice Centre (KPC) is centered around a structured method of thinking about composite material manufacturing. From the top down, the heirarchy consists of:

The way that the material, shape, tooling & consumables and equipment (abbreviated as MSTE) interact with each other during a process step is critical to the outcome of the manufacturing step, and ultimately critical to the quality of the finished part. The interactions between MSTE during a process step can be numerous and complex, but the Knowledge in Practice Centre aims to make you aware of these interactions, understand how one parameter affects another, and understand how to analyze the problem using a systems based approach. Using this approach, the factory can then be developed with a complete understanding and control of all interactions.

The relationship between material, shape, tooling & consumables and equipment during a process step


Interrelationship of Function, Shape, Material & Process

Design for manufacturing is critical to ensuring the producibility of a part. Trouble arises when it is considered too late or not at all in the design process. Conversely, process design (controlling the interactions between shape, material, tooling & consumables and equipment to achieve a desired outcome) must always consider the shape and material of the part. Ashby has developed and popularized the approach linking design (function) to the choice of material and shape, which influence the process selected and vice versa, as shown below:

The relationship between function, material, shape and process


Within the Knowledge in Practice Centre the same methodology is applied but the process is more fully defined by also explicitly calling out the equipment and tooling & consumables. Note that in common usage, a process which consists of many steps can be arbitrarily defined by just one step, e.g. "spray-up". Though convenient, this can be misleading.

The relationship between function, material, shape and process consisting of Equipment and Tooling and consumables


Workflows

The KPC's Practice and Case Study volumes consist of three types of workflows:

  • Development - Analyzing the interactions between MSTE in the process steps to make decisions on processing parameters and understanding how the process steps and factory cells fit within the factory.
  • Troubleshooting - Guiding you to possible causes of processing issues affecting either cost, rate or quality and directing you to the most appropriate development workflow to improve the process
  • Optimization - An expansion on the development workflows where a larger number of options are considered to achieve the best mixture of cost, rate & quality for your application.

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