Initial and final fracture behaviors of woven fabric composites

Abstract

Within the scope of the experiments, the initial and final fracture behaviors in glass roving and glass cloth composites were investigated. After the production of two types of composite panels with the hand lay-up method, tensile and three-point bending tests on composites were conducted. Acoustic emission (AE) and optical microscopy (cross-sectional observation) analyses based on the various strain rates in bending tests were performed to see the fracture initiation and propagation in composites. The initial fractures were transverse cracks in the glass roving composites; these were delaminations in glass cloth composites. The final fractures were transverse cracks, delaminations, and fiber breakages in glass roving and glass cloth composites. In this study, the fracture process and mechanisms of glass roving and glass cloth composites were successfully identified by AE characteristics and cross-sectional observations.