Characterizing the damage mechanisms in mode II delamination in glass/epoxy composite using acoustic emission

Mode II delamination propagation is an important damage mode in laminated composites and this paper aims to investigate the behavior of this damage in laminated composite materials using acoustic emission (AE) technique. Three different lay-ups of glass/epoxy composites were subjected to mode II delamination propagation and generated AE signals were recorded. In order to investigate the propagation of delamination behavior of these specimens, AE signals were analyzed using Wavelet Packet Transforms (WPT) and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). In addition, conventional AE analyses were used to enhance understanding of the propagation of delamination damage. The results indicate that different fracture mechanisms were the main cause of the AE signals. The dominant mechanisms in all the specimens were matrix cracking, fiber/matrix debonding and fiber breakage, with varying percentage of the damage mechanisms for each lay-up. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observations were in accordance to the AE results.