Open hole tensile behavior of plain woven carbon/glass hybrid composites

Abstract

Hybrid composites are increasingly attractive for advanced engineering applications. In this study, the open-hole tensile (OHT) properties and failure mechanism of plain woven carbon fiber, glass fiber, and carbon/glass hybrid fiber composites under on-axis (0°) and off-axis (45°) loads were investigated through experimental and numerical approaches. The progressive damage was characterized by high-speed infrared thermography. The numerical simulation presented a good explanation on the damage development. It indicates that the carbon/glass hybrid composites exhibited significant improvement in failure strain and toughness compared to pure carbon fiber composite. With the insertion of glass fiber layers, the failure modes of hybrid structures were modified and quick propagation of cracks was prevented. Once the cracking on their carbon layers had initiated there was an increase in damage to glass fiber layers showing the transfer of stress from carbon layers to glass layers. Similar mechanical properties were reached among sandwich-like hybrid samples in on-axis tension, but much greater properties can be achieved when the carbon fiber at the interior layers of the hybrid specimens under off-axis load. Since glass fiber with great ductility was laminated as the surface layers in hybridization, resulting in less delamination and higher ultimate strength in 45○ off-axis tension.