Size and scale effects in composites: II. Unidirectional laminates

This paper is concerned with the scale and size effects in the strength characterisation of composite materials with particular reference to hand laid-up unidirectional laminates. Attention has been focused on the tensile and flexural strengths of glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy laminates. The experiments have been designed through the use of statistical, factorial-based techniques, whereby a more comprehensive analysis of the inter-relationship between different parameters and their influence on strength can be made. The work highlights the importance of fabrication factors and the distinguishing difference between scale effects and size effects. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.