Effect of milled glass fibers on delamination resistance and load bearing capacity of composite laminates

Abstract

Fiber Reinforced Plastic FRP composites are widely used in aerospace industries owing to their superior properties like high specific strength stiffness good corrosion resistance excellent damage tolerance and a higher level of design freedom than conventional metals Despite their advantages laminated composites are susceptible to accidental impact events during their service life by tool drop or by runway debris which causes delamination due to poor interlaminar fracture resistance Delamination is the predominant failure mode which can progress during service loading conditions and drastically reduce the strength stiffness of the structure Therefore improving the fracture resistance to different modes of crack propagation would enhance the delamination resistance and performance of the composite materials The primary objective of this research work is to improve the delamination resistance and load bearing capacity of composite laminates with milled glass fibers The effect of fiber orientation fiber and matrix material on mode I mode II delamination resistance of composite laminates will also be investigated This research work was accomplished with an insight into the use of a specific amount of milled glass fibers to improve the mode I and mode II interlaminar fracture toughness of the composite laminates The milled glass fibers were added to the glass epoxy laminates at various loading 2 5 5 7 5 10 by weight of epoxy to improve the interlaminar fracture toughness The results showed a significant improvement in the mode I and mode II fracture toughness by 102 and 175 respectively due to the addition of milled glass fibers 5 Wt The presence of milled fibers in the interlaminar domain demanded additional energy for initiating crack newline