MICROCOPY RESOLUTION

The weight saving advantages of composite materials are well known in the aircraft industry and service experience is being acquired on many airplane and helicopter structural components. Composite materials will be used in other applications where weight saving is an important design consideration. In addition, information concerning dynamic behavior of many types of structural elements fabricated from composite materials is available. In spite of this, uncertainties concerning the behavior of composite materials still exist. For example, how do the natural environments affect their strength, fatigue resistance or their thermal expansion? How relevant are laboratory accelerated tests to the long term natural exposure of composite materials? What is the influence of simulated defects on the fatigue life of either graphite fiber or carbon fiber reinforced plastics? These and other questions were discussed in the specialists meeting on the Effect of the Service Environment on Composite Materials which was held during the 50th Meeting of the AGARD Structures and Materials Panel in Athens, Greece