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Work of fracture of fibre-reinforced polymers

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Abstract

The work of fracture has been measured by bending tests on notched specimens of graphite and glass fibre reinforced polyester resins. Fibre bundles were used to increase the effective fibre diameter and improve the uniformity of the fibre strength.

The results indicated that very tough specimens could be produced by these means (fracture surface energies of up to 11 kg/mm) and that toughness was determined by the strength, modulus and diameter of fibre bundles, as well as the volume fraction of fibre bundles. Failure occurred by fibre fracture close to the matrix fracture surface, and the fracture-surface energy appeared to result from the relative movement between fibre bundles and matrix as the fibres bridging the crack were stretched within the matrix. The work of fracture correlated well with the fibre-matrix interfacial stress, calculated from the observed stress transfer length.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto 5, Canada

    M. Fila, C. Bredin & M. R. Piggott

Authors
  1. M. Fila
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  2. C. Bredin
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  3. M. R. Piggott
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Fila, M., Bredin, C. & Piggott, M.R. Work of fracture of fibre-reinforced polymers. J Mater Sci 7, 983–988 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00550060

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00550060

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