Theories for predicting the fatigue behaviour of composite laminates often make strong assumptions on the damage mechanisms that strongly depend on the designed laminate lay-up. In this regard, several physical and empirical models were proposed in the literature that generally require experimental validations. The experimental techniques, such as thermography, also provide useful tools for monitoring the behaviour of the specific material so, that they can be used to support the study of the damage mechanisms of materials. In this research, the second amplitude harmonic of the thermal signal has been investigated and used to assess the relationship with the total energy input in order to estimate the fatigue strength of the material. A thermal index was assessed by monitoring the constant amplitude tests (S/N curve) that were performed on a quasi-isotropic carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate obtained by the automated fibre placement process. The obtained results demonstrated the capability of the second amplitude harmonic of the thermal signal to describe and monitor the fatigue damage.
Keywords: FRP composites; second amplitude harmonic of thermal signal; thermography; total energy input.