2T8.

Polymers and composites

305

FRACTURE OF COMPOSITES IN MILITARY AIRCRAFT

Robert Pell, Nick Athiniotis and Graham Clark
Defence Science & Technology Organisation
506 Lorimer St. Fishermans Bend, Victoria, Australia, 3207
graham.clark@dsto.defence.gov.au
The Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) provides failure analysis and accident
investigation support to the Australian Defence Forces (ADF) and over 60 years has developed a
strong capability as an impartial adviser on aviation failures.
This paper provides a brief overview of military aviation accident investigation and failure
analysis in Australia, an activity which draws upon a wide range of scientific and technical
capability, including engineering analysis.
In some specialised areas, notably composite materials, DSTO anticipated a requirement for a
significant capability in failure analysis, on the basis that failure investigations in which the failure
mode of the composite structure in an aircraft is not understood will always be open to doubt. As
the use of composite materials in aircraft manufacture continues to increase the requirement to be
able to analyse failures in composite materials also increases.
Over some years, DSTO conducted research and participated in an international collaboration
program to develop a functional capability in the failure analysis of composite materials. This
effort was built upon a strong science foundation that already existed at DSTO in the design and
manufacture of composite components, especially with respect to the repair and refurbishment of
aging aircraft structures.
This approach has resulted in a small, but expert capability in DSTO. In most instances
composites failure analysis, by methodical examination of the fracture surfaces of broken fibres,
can be used to determine whether fibre fracture has occurred under tension, shear or compression
loading. Similarly, by detailed examination of the matrix material on the surface of a
delamination, composites failure analysis can be used to determine whether the delamination was
introduced as a defect during manufacture or if it occurred, in service, as a result of shear or
transverse tension loading.
The ability to identify failure modes in carbon-fibre, boron-fibre and glass-reinforced
composites under a variety of loading conditions, and at a variety of scales, has been applied on an
opportunity basis to failures experienced in the aircraft flown by the ADF, as well as a number of
non-aviation cases.
Citing one example, the ability to identify the features generated in carbon fibre fractures
produced by compression loading (Fig. 1) made a significant contribution to an accident
investigation conducted for the ADF. Part of the accident damage included the tail rotor blades of
an ADF helicopter all of which were broken in an identical manner. This could have been caused
by ground impact, however, it was possible that the blades may have been severed in flight. It was
essential to determine the cause of failure and the identification of compression features in each of
the tail rotor blade fractures confirmed that the failure had occurred under bending loads that
would be consistent with ground impact.

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R. Pell et al.

Figure 1. A schematic of the fracture process that occurs under compression loading and examples
of the micro features used to identify compression fracture,
The paper will present an overview of the variety of composite materials and structures,
ranging from carbon fibre yacht masts to fibreglass reinforced automotive timing belts that have
been successfully analysed at DSTO using composites failure analysis techniques.
In the context of DSTOs failure analysis and accident investigation activity as applied to
military aircraft, the paper addresses, in some detail, a number of examples of failures in both
carbon fibre and fibreglass composite components.
These examples serve to illustrate the complex nature of the fracture/failure process in
composite materials, and the contribution made by analysis of the fractures surfaces generated
during failure. The paper also highlights the need to analyse fractures on both the macro and
micro-scales with the need to reconcile these observations to achieve a valid conclusion.