In this paper, the effects of fiber orientation on translaminar fracture toughness of a glass-epoxy composite laminate were evaluated using a compact tension shear (CTS) mixed mode (I/II) fracture specimen. Unidirectional (UD) glass fiber laminates of 0° and 0/90° orientation were considered for the experimental work. The fabrication of the CTS mixed mode (I/II) fracture specimen plates of thickness 9mm for various fiber orientations were done using hand lay-up technique. The CTS specimens of various fiber orientations are machined to form composite plates. The experimental study conducted for CTS specimen was of seven loading angle varying from 0° (mode-I) to 90° (mode-II) with an increment of 15° for various fiber orientation. Experimentally evaluated peak loads from CTS mixed mode (I/II) fracture specimen for various fiber orientations and loading angle are utilized to estimate the translaminar fracture toughness. The experimental results of translaminar fracture toughness of unidirectional (UD) glass fiber shows higher for 0/90° as compared with 0° fiber orientation and highly dependent on loading angle. The factography study clearly indicates that the crack initiation/direction depends on the loading angle.

1.
M.J.
Laffan
,
S.T.
Pinho
,
P.
Robinson
,
A.J.
McMillan
, Translaminar fracture toughness testing of composites: A review, (
Polymer Testing
,
Elsevier
,
2012
)
2.
Gianmaria
Bullegas
,
Silvestre T.
Pinhoa
,
Soraia
Piment
,
Engineering the translaminar fracture behaviour of thin ply composites
, (
Composites Science and Technology
,
2016
)
3.
Y.-C.
Gao
,
Y.-W.
Mai
,
B.
Cotterell
,
Fracture of fiber-reinforced materials
, (
ZAMP Zeitschrift fr angewandte Mathematik und Physik
,
1988
) pp.
550
572
.
4.
J.
Wells
,
P.
Beaumont
,
Debonding and pull-out processes in fibrous composites
, (
Journal of Materials Science
,
1985
) pp.
1275
1284
.
5.
J.-K.
Kim
,
Y.-w.
Mai
,
High strength, high fracture toughness fibre composites with interface control-a review
, (
Composites Science and Technology
,
1991
) pp.
333
378
.
6.
S.
Pimenta
,
S.
Pinho
,
An analytical model for the translaminar fracture toughness of fibre composites with stochastic quasi-fractal fracture surfaces
, (
Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids
,
2014
) pp.
78
102
.
7.
Richard
HA
,
Benitz
K.
A loading device for the creation of mixed mode in fracture mechanics
(
International Journal of Fracture
,
1983
) pp.
55
58
.
8.
J.
Jamali
,
Y.
Fan
, and
J. T.
Wood
,
The Mixed-Mode Fracture Behaviour of Epoxy By The Compact Tension Shear Test
, (
International Journal of Adhesives
, vol.
63
,
2015
) pp.
79
86
9.
J.
Jamali
,
A.-H. T.
Mourad
,
Y.
Fan
, and
J. T.
Wood
,
Through thickness fracture behavior of unidirectional glass fibers/epoxy composites under various in-plane loading using the CTS test
, (
Engineering Fracture Mechanics
, vol.
156
,
2016
) pp.
83
95
10.
Richard
HA
.
Some theoretical and experimental aspects of mixed mode fractures
. In:
Valluri
SR
,
Taplin
DMR
,
Ram Rao
P
,
Knott
JF
,
Dubey
R
, editors
.
Advances in fracture research
, (
Proc 6th Tnternational Conference On Fracture (TCF6
), vol
5
.
New Delhi, India
,
4-10 December 1984
,
Oxford: Pergamon Press
,
1984
) pp.
3337
3344
.
11.
C.M.
Sharanaprabhu
,
S.K.
Kudari
,
Study on mixed mode crack-tip plastic zones in CTS specimen
, (
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering
2008
Vol
II
,
WCE 2008
,
July 2 - 4, 2008
,
London, U.K
)
12.
K. H.
Benrahou
,
M.
Benguediab
,
M.
Belhouri
,
Nait-Abdelaziz
and
A.
Tmad
,
Estimation of plastic zone by finite element method under mixed mode (I and II) loading
, (
Computational Materials Science
, vol.
38
,
2007
) pp.
595
601
13.
S.K.
Kudari
,
C.M.
Sharanaprabhu
,
On the relationship between stress intensity factor (K) and minimum plastic zone radius (MPZR) for four point bend specimen under mixed mode loading
(
International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology
,
2010
) pp.
13
22
This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.