Loading direction effect on the strength in a Quasi-isotropic CFRP Laminate

Abstract

For a quasi-isotropic CFRP laminate, the elastic stress-strain behavior is expected to be the same in any directions. But fracture and/or strength of it may strongly depend on the loading direction. In this paper, tensile tests are carried out for the specimens, cut out in three directions from two kinds of quasi-isotropic CFRP laminates, to investigate the influence of loading direction on the damage pattern and final fracture. A FEM code is used to analyze the stresses, and an attempt to compare the numerical analysis with the experimental observations is made.