A method to evaluate interfacial fracture energy on a fibre/matrix interface

Abstract

A double cleavage drilled compression (DCDC) specimen was analysed using the boundary element method. The DCDC specimen of FRP composites was proposed and used to evaluate the interfacial behaviour and fracture energy in model composites of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP). As a result, it was confirmed that the DCDC specimen had the mode I stress distribution for the hole offsetting displacement of b = 0, in which the specimen configuration was symmetrical, while it had the mixed-mode stress distribution for b = 0. The approach of calculating the interfacial fracture energy was established using both the analysis and experiments. Furthermore, the bridging fibre DCDC specimen was proposed and the effect of bridging fibres on the loading phase was made clear. It was shown that the DCDC test was a useful method to evaluate the interfacial behaviour of fibre/matrix in composites.