Mechanical behaviour of woven and multiaxial fabric composites

Compression molded glass epoxy laminates (0.65 W-f) were prepared out of BID woven (reference material), multiaxial and tailored multiaxial/uni-directional hybrid fabrics. Results showed that the properties of the hybrid fabric laminates compared very well with those of the BID laminates both in longitudinal and transverse loading directions, with the former exhibiting superior impact resistance. Hybridisation with UD fabrics has helped in enhancing the multiaxial laminate properties in the transverse direction without affecting its properties in the longitudinal direction. The compression strength of the hybridised laminate has been found to be comparable with that of the BID laminate but higher in the longitudinal and transverse directions as compared to the multiaxial laminate.