Characterization of Failure Strain In Fiber Reinforced Composites: Under On-Axis and Off-Axis Loading

Metals are known for high ductility and have, been used to design and fabricate structural components for many years. However, composite materials are taking over traditional materials owing to their significant mechanical properties. Fiber-reinforced composites exhibit lower ductility and failure strain, resulting in brittle failure, limiting their application where high ductility is desired. In this study, an effort has been made to design, fabricate, and test continuous fiber-reinforced composites with improved ductility. A comparative analysis was performed for optimizing the failure strain of different woven fiber-reinforced composite materials under both on-axis (0 degrees/90 degrees) and off-axis (+/- 45 degrees) loading. The materials include carbon/epoxy, E-glass/epoxy, and jute/epoxy composite. The tests were performed according to ASTM D3039 standard. The strength of all tested composites in on-axis and off-axis loading was obtained from tensile test results. But failure strain was limited in on-axis loading. Interestingly, glass/epoxy composite showed improved failure strain, by 90%, without much loss in tensile strength in off-axis loading than on-axis loading. The jute fiber revealed limited tensile strength and failure strain in both loading conditions.