Abstract
An experimental project was undertaken to develop two interlaminar Mode III tearing test methods. The first was a split cantilever beam test. A laminate, containing a starter crack, was bonded between aluminum bars. The ends of the bars were then loaded in opposite directions, parallel to the plane of the crack and normal to the beam length. Stable crack growth was achieved in carbon fiber material. Unidirectional carbon fiber composites showed Mode III critical strain energy release rates in the range 1·1–1·3 kJ/m 2. The effects of laminate thickness, beam depth, and data reduction method were investigated. In addition, testing was conducted on angle-ply laminates. Unsuccessful tests were conducted on a tougher matrix thermoplastic composite. An edge delamination specimen was also investigated. [15° i/ – 15° i] S angle-ply laminates were fabricated with four implanted edge starter cracks. Both tension and compression tests were conducted. Difficulties in interpreting the results are discussed. The split cantilever beam and edge delamination results are compared.
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