Experimental Investigation of Influence of Sewing Type -Z Axis Reinforcement on Epoxy/Glass Fibre Composite

In composites de-lamination is a serious issue. Usually reinforcement in the thickness direction (z axis reinforcement) is employed to solve this issue. In this article an experimental analysis of sewing type z-axis reinforcement approach is discussed. This type is unique than 3D composite fabrication and reinforcement after curing techniques. This type of reinforcement increased interlaminar toughness of laminated composites considerably. The proposed technique is carefully considered to overcome the limitation of the conventional technique. It is improved by sewing type zaxis reinforcement into the host laminate before it has been cured and is proposed to overcome the previous limitations. Here two types of composites were fabricated and tested with Double-Cantilever Beam (DCB) test and shock loading test for validating the reinforcement performance. The different measures like load absorption and displacement in gradual loading, fracture toughness, energy absorption and status of the broken specimen were observed to measure the effect of reinforcement. The results demonstrate that the proposed method of z-axis reinforcement was extremely effective in restraining the de-lamination related to damage propagation.