Rail Shear and Short Beam Shear Properties of Various 3-Dimensional (3-D) Woven Composites

Abstract

Abstract : The material responses of 6 different 3-dimensional (3-D) woven architectures have been evaluated via quasi-static mechanical testing. The 3-D woven architectures consist of S-glass fiber and SC-15 epoxy matrix. The 2 mechanical experiments, rail shear and short beam shear tests, have been conducted on the 3-D woven specimens to evaluate their linear elastic responses and obtain in-plane and through-thickness shear properties. Two main conclusions can be made from these studies: 1) The angle interlock architecture has the highest resistance to in-plane shear, and 2) in terms of through-thickness shear properties, orthogonal architectures have the smallest reduction; however, the layer-to-layer and angle interlock architectures provide a larger amount of energy absorption characterized by stable failure modes that are not typically seen in the orthogonal and laminated architectures.