EVALUATION OF STRAIN ENERGY RELEASE RATE OF EPOXY GLASS FIBRE LAMINATE (MODE - I)

The conventional materials fail to meet the requirements of high technology applications like space applications. In order to meet the requirements like high temperature and wear resistances new materials are being searched. The composite materials are the best alternative for those applications. The applications of composite materials have recently increased because of high strength/stiffness for lower weight, superior fatigue characteristics, facility to change fiber orientations, etc. At the same time, these materials pose new problems such as inter ply cracking, inter laminar de-lamination and fiber cracking. Composite materials failure can be reduced by increasing fracture toughness. Aim is to evaluate the strain energy release rate of glass fiber/epoxy composites. Composites were prepared with glass fiber reinforced with epoxy based polymer. The strain energy release rate of the specimen was employed to conduct mode-I fracture test using special loading fixtures as per ASTM (d5528) standards.