This paper is concerned with the investigation of flexural fracture behavior of carbon/aramid hybrid unidirectional FRP laminates (C/A hybrid FRP) over relatively wide ranges of both temperature and deflection rate in conjunction with similar investigation of CFRP and AFRP laminates. The results obtained are summarized as follows: (1) The flexural fracture behavior of C/A hybrid FRP changes with temperature and strain rate. The fracture behavior is clas.. sified into two stages by temperature and strain rate. (2) The flexural fracture of C/A hybrid FRP is triggered by the compressive fracture of CFRP layer in the range of high temperature and ' low strain rate, in which the flexural strength decreases with temperature and increases with strain rate remarkably. (3) The flexural fracture of C/A. hybrid FRP' is triggered by the tensile fracture of AFRP layer in the range of low, temperature and high strain rate, in which the flexural strength changes scarcely with temperature but decreases remarkably with strain rate.
It is known that the thermal dimensional stability of fiber reinforced metal is controlled by the thermal stress due to the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between the fiber and the matrix. In this study, the possibility to improve the thermal dimensional stability by controlling the thermal stress is discussed in a short alumina fiber reinforced magnesium alloy (FRMg). The thermal stress is controlled by the method that the specimen length is kept almost constant during quenching using a jig. The results show that the specimen length of the FRMg quenched under no such constraint increases along the fiber orientation during subsequent annealing, whereas little dimensional changeu is induced in the FRMg quenched under constraint. The superior dimensional stability of FRMg is ascribed to the fact that the tensile residual stress in the matrix due to the thermal stress is relaxed by the slip deformation induced upon quenching under constraint.
The impact failure behaviors of unidirectionally oriented continuous SiC fiber (NICALONR)-reinforced aluminum, whose volume fraction was 0.5, have been investigated by a instrumented charpy impact testing machine. The impact energy was ranged from 25 to 150 J which corresponded impact velocity ranged from 1.4 to 3.5 m/s. The result showed that the maximum impact load of the composite decreased with increasing impact energy. On the other hand, the total absorved energy which was due to energy consumption mechanisms after the maximum load increased with increasing impact energy.