Effect of ON and OFF Axis Open Hole Tensile Testing of GFRP/Epoxy Composites

Articles in Press

Document Type : Special Issue: Mechanics of Advanced Fiber Reinforced Composite Structures

Authors

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, M. S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India

2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, India

3 Professor and Chairperson Department of Mechanical Engg. PES University, Bangalore 560 085 Domain Head: Advanced Composite Research Center (ACRC)

Abstract

Composites are widely used for different applications in engineering mainly due to their tailored benefits, durability, reduced maintenance, and enhanced performance. GFRP is a synthetic material that has revolutionised the aerospace industry, offering a high strength-to-weight ratio, fuel efficiency, and enhanced performance for advanced applications. In structures like aircraft components, holes or notches are often present due to design requirements or secondary joining processes through rivets or bolted connections, which leads to wear and tear. Further, how these materials behave under tensile loads near these openings is critical for ensuring the safety and reliability of such structures. In the present study, GFRP/Epoxy composite laminates are subjected to open hole tensile test under ON and OFF axis orientations. The effect of loading under different sequences was studied. The nature of failure near the hole region was reviewed and presented. It is noted that the dominant failure was LGM type under the ON-axis and different under the OFF-axis which is not limited to shear failure, interlaminar delamination and mixed mode failures. These trends are noted for different hole dia, namely 6,9,12 and 18mm. The study also presents the nature of the stress-strain curve for both configurations. The OFF-axis specimens displayed a non-linear behavior to failure as compared to the On-axis type. While, the on-axis specimens showed a marked reduction in peak load and tensile strength as hole dia increased with reductions up to 65.23% and 63.57%, respectively relative to hole-less specimens. The inclined failure in off-axis specimens varied between 50 degree - 55 degree. Further, the damage tolerance in OFF-axis samples were higher as compared to ON-axis specimens.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Mechanics of Advanced Composite Structures

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 August 2024

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