Experimental study on the tensile properties of composites with Cr20Ni80 TFP electric heating layer under energization

• Glass/epoxy laminates built-in Cr20Ni80 TFP electric heating layer could be applied to aircraft electrothermal anti-icing/de-icing systems. • The electrothermal composites could achieve average heating rate of 0.7 °C/s in 20 s at the power density of 0.6 W·cm −2 . • The retention rates of tensile strength and modulus of electrothermal composites under energization are at least 82.51% and 76.54%. Polymer composites embedded with a lightweight electric heating layer show great potential for application in aircraft inlet anti-icing/de-icing systems. The mechanical properties of such electrothermal composites are critical to flight reliability. The tensile properties of glass/epoxy composites incorporating a Cr20Ni80 tailored fiber placement (TFP) electric heating layer under energization were investigated. For the middle layer, three different Cr20Ni80 wire spacings on the TFP fabrics were designed to meet the power density requirement of 0.6 W·cm −2 . The composites achieved an average heating rate of 0.7 °C/s during the initial 20 s. An integrated approach combining digital image correlation (DIC) and infrared thermography was employed to monitor the tensile displacement field and surface temperature distribution of samples simultaneously during energization-tensile testing. The tensile strength and elastic modulus of composite samples with a wire spacing of 10 mm were 18.88 % and 35.01 % higher than those with a 6 mm spacing, respectively. Compared to non-energized counterparts, the energized samples maintained high retention rates of at least 82.51 % for tensile strength and 76.54 % for elastic modulus. Damage morphology analysis indicates that energization induces interfacial debonding of both glass fibers and Cr20Ni80 wires from the epoxy matrix, accompanied by matrix cracking and delamination.