Effect of woven fabric architecture on interlaminar mechanical response of composite materials: an experimental study

摘要

Woven fabrics are usually selected for the reinforcement phase in laminated composite materials due to their balanced in-plane mechanical and thermal properties and their relatively simple handling during the composite fabrication process. One of the questions that usually arise in the design of laminated composites is the selection of the woven fabric architecture. It is well known the effect that this architecture plays In the in-plane elastic and ultimate composite properties under either in-plane tensile or shear loading. However, the effect of the woven fabric architecture on the mechanical response of composites under interlaminar shear loading is not well established. An experimental study was conducted to determine the role of the woven fabric architecture and its geometrical parameters on the interlaminar shear response of laminated composites. A set of composite materials with the same epoxy matrix and carbon fiber were prepared with five different woven fabrics of similar areal density and fiber volume fraction. The experimental results reveal that the interlaminar shear modulus is not significantly affected by the woven fabric architecture and that the interlaminar shear strength Is not only dependent on the amount of crimp in the woven fabric reinforcement but also significantly affected by bridging effects.