Characterizing Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Shear Behavior with Digital Image Correlation

Published

September 24, 2018

Author(s)

Qi An, Matthias J. Merzkirch, Aaron M. Forster

Abstract

The interlaminar and intralaminar shear properties, such as modulus and strength, are important for the design of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials. Short beam strength is often used as a screening tool for interlaminar strength, but the V-Notched beam methods are considered valid for shear modulus and strength measurements. The advent of optical strain measurement techniques such as digital image correlation (DIC), provide new opportunities to generate high resolution maps of the shear strain field as a function of the globally applied strain. In this work, we show that non-contact measurements of the strain field are an important enhancement to measuring the shear properties of FRP composites. The V-Notched rail shear method is used to measure the shear modulus and strength of three different FRP composites that vary in reinforcement type (glass or carbon), matrix type (epoxy chemistry) and angle of the principle fiber axis to the shear loading axis. DIC was used to track local strains and evaluate the shear strain across the gage length and near the notch root in these specimens. The results are compared to analytical predictions of shear modulus derived from tensile properties of the epoxy polymer matrix and the reinforcing fiber.

Proceedings Title

American Society for Composites 33rd Technical Conference Proceedings

Conference Dates

September 24-26, 2018

Conference Location

Seattle, WA, US

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

fiber reinforced composites, glass, shear testing, DIC

Citation

An, Q. , Merzkirch, M. and Forster, A. (2018), Characterizing Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Shear Behavior with Digital Image Correlation, American Society for Composites 33rd Technical Conference Proceedings, Seattle, WA, US (Accessed April 20, 2024)