Characterization and damage analysis of notched cross-ply and angle-ply fabric GFRP composite material

One of the main problems related to composite structure joining is use of mechanical joint that damages continuous fibers and leads to reduction of considerable amount of load carrying capacity of composite structure. To underline this problem, damage initiation and mode of fracture around circular hole of cross-ply and angle-ply of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) specimens subjected to tensile loading have been studied experimentally and numerically. A comprehensive notch-edge damage analysis was performed with help of recording test video, digital microscope, Polariscope, and layer by layer SEM (scanning electron microscope) analysis. To understand the effect of manufacturing process on the quality of hole and to avoid its influence on the actual result, a number of manufacturing methods and cutting parameters were used and based on the found result appropriate method was selected for further study. From tensile test, results showed that the tensile strength, crack initiations and propagations around hole are influenced by the quality of notch. Experimental observation showed that the effectiveness of finding of damaged zone is dependent on the damage observation techniques. Predicted damaged zone by numerical solution are in good agreement with experimental observations.