Title: Effect of notch size and fibre content on the tensile strength of fabric reinforced hybrid composites

Authors: K. Mohamed Kaleemulla, B. Siddeswarappa

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University BDT College of Engineering, Davangere-577 004, Karnataka, India. ' Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, University BDT College of Engineering, Davangere-577 004, Karnataka, India

Abstract: Hybrid composite materials reinforced with woven fabrics are becoming increasingly popular for various structural applications in the automotive, aerospace, and other industrial sectors; particularly in thin walled structures. The present investigation concentrates on fabric-reinforced hybrid composite laminates with seven different volume fractions of the constituent materials; epoxy resin, plain-woven S2 glass fabric, and textile satin fabric. Fracture toughness of a material has immense importance in the determination of the resistance of the material to crack propagation. In this paper, an experimental investigation has been carried out on the tensile strength and fracture toughness of woven fabric reinforced hybrid composites with 0°/90° orientation for six different notch configurations. Experimentation and specimen dimensions are in accordance with ASTM D5766 standards. The fracture toughness has been found to increase continuously with increased volume of glass fabric, whereas the fracture toughness has been found to be less dependent of notch size upto certain limit.

Keywords: fracture toughness; woven hybrid composites; open hole tensile test; epoxy resin; glass fabric; textile satin fabric; thin walled structures.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2008.018026

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, 2008 Vol.31 No.2/3/4, pp.283 - 292

Published online: 27 Apr 2008 *

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