Investigation about the fracture behavior and strength in a curved section of CF/PP composite by a thin-curved beam specimen

Abstract

A curved beam specimen with a curved section bent at a right angle and straight arms is an efficient experimental method to evaluate the interlaminar tensile strength of a composite laminate. This paper describes a technique to apply such a test method to determining the fracture behavior and strength in a curved section of a thin laminate. The proposed technique is capable of estimating appropriately the compressive or tensile strength as well as the interlaminar tensile strength at failure in a thin-curved section, especially targeting thermoplastic composite materials. The significant point of the proposed technique is a modified calculating method of the stress distribution in a curved section by taking into account the large deformation of the specimen because of thin laminate.