Effect of fiber hybridization on tensile fracture of 3D woven textile composites

Abstract

3D Woven composites provide the ability to handle higher damage tolerance (Pankow et al., 2019). Hybridization of fibers is an additional method to provide improved damage tolerance (Pankow et al., 2014) . This work is the first time that the tensile response of “hybrid” 3D woven composites (H3DWC) is investigated. The hybridization showed an increase in modulus with increasing carbon fiber volume fraction ( > 30 % in general). While, the strength showed a decrease that was proportional to the carbon fiber volume fraction ( > 78% of the baseline glass). Although the carbon failed, the material remains intact as the glass fibers have not failed, maintaining 80% of the strength after failure in the warp direction. The unsymmetric samples, which have benefits for bending type loading, produced coupled behavior due to thermally induced shrinkage. Overall looking at the combination of factors from previous bending work with this new tensile work, it can clearly be seen that there is a clear tradeoff in the amount and way one would perform hybridization.