Influence of Delamination on Strength of Externally Pressurized Glass/Epoxy Cylinders

The delamination resistance of filament wound glass/epoxy cylinders has been characterized for a range of winding angles and fracture mode ratios using beam fracture specimens. The results reveal that the fracture resistance increases with increasing winding angle and mode II (shear) fraction (GII/G). It was also found that interlaced fiber bundles in the filament wound cylinder wall acted as effective crack arresters in mode I loading. To examine the sensitivity of delamination damage on the implosion behavior of cylinders, external pressure tests were performed on filament-wound glass/epoxy composite cylinders with artificial defects and impact damage. The results revealed that the cylinder strength was insensitive to the presence of single delaminations but impact damage caused reductions in failure pressure. The insensitivity of the failure pressure to a single delamination is attributed to the absence of buckling of the delaminated sublaminates before the cylinder wall collapsed. The impacted cylinders contained multiple delaminations, which caused local reduction in the compressive load capability and reduction in failure pressure.