Mohan, JosephJosephMohanIvankovic, AlojzAlojzIvankovicMurphy, NealNealMurphy2013-11-122013-11-122013 Elsev2013-02Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturinghttp://hdl.handle.net/10197/4901The present work investigated the effect of the level of prepreg moisture content on the mixed-mode fracture toughness of a co-cured composite joint. It was found that moisture was stored in the prepreg as either free or bound water. It was also shown that the prepreg stores moisture from high humidity environments as free water, while the level of bound water remains unaffected. The excessive moisture was shown to plasticise the adhesive, lowering the glass transition temperature. The fracture toughness decreased under mode I and mode II loading as the humidity level was increased. The mixed-mode toughness also reduced with increasing storage humidity. However, the measured mixed-mode fracture toughness never reduced below that of the joints fabricated using the as-received material. This indicates that the moisture has a more pronounced effect on the bulk properties of the adhesive rather than on the interfacial adhesion between the composite and adhesive.enThis is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing (45, , (2013)) DOI: http://dx.doi/org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2012.09.010PrepregB: adhesionB: fracture toughnessD: Thermal analysisJournal Article45233410.1016/j.compositesa.2012.09.0102013-09-24https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/