Analysis of mode III interlaminar fracture toughness of laminated composites using a novel testing device

摘要

The delamination phenomenon is one of the major failure mechanisms in composite materials formed by the stacking of successive layers. The fracture mode that has been studied the least within this phenomenon is mode III, due to the difficulty its simulation involves. A novel test device is presented in this paper that allows laminated composites to be subjected to this mode of loading. Characterization tests were carried out on two materials with different matrices in order to analyse the influence of the type of matrix in the fracture behaviour under mode III-fracture. Furthermore, two analytical models adapted to this test methodology have been used for the determination of the value of the energy release rate for this mode of loading in both materials. The load was applied at different distances from the front of the notch, this being another parameter that was analyzed.