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

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

Authors

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, 560054, India

2 Centre for Advanced Materials Technology, Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, 560054, India

3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, PES University, Bengaluru, 560085, India

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 revolutionized 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 500 - 550. Further, the damage tolerance in OFF-axis samples was higher as compared to ON-axis specimens.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

[1]    Rao, D.K., Sharma, P., Kumar, V., Agarwal P.K. and Kaithwas, C.K., 2024. Introduction to thermoplastic polymer composites: applications, advantages, and drawbacks. Elsevier eBooks, pp. 1–9. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-443-19009-4.00001-1.
[2]    Belgacem, L., Ouinas, D., Olay, J.A.V. and Amado, A.A., 2018. Experimental investigation of notch effect and ply number on mechanical behavior of interply hybrid laminates (glass/carbon/epoxy). Composites Part B: Engineering, 145, pp.189-196. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2018.03.026.
[3]    Suyambulingam, I., Rangappa, S.M. and Siengchin, S., 2023. Advanced Materials and Technologies for Engineering Applications. Applied Science and Engineering Progress, 16(3), p.6760. Doi: https://doi.org/10.14416/j.asep.2023.01.008
[4]    Pierron, F., Green, B., Wisnom, M.R. and Hallett, S.R., 2007. Full-field assessment of the damage process of laminated composite open-hole tensile specimens. Part II: Experimental results. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 38(11), pp.2321-2332. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2007.01.019. 
[5]    Wisnom, M.R. and Hallett, S.R., 2009. The role of delamination in strength, failure mechanism and hole size effect in open hole tensile tests on quasi-isotropic laminates. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 40(4), pp.335–342. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2008.12.013.
[6]    Aoki, R., Higuchi, R., Yokozeki, T., Aoki, K., Uchiyama, S. and Ogasawara, T., 2022. Effects of ply thickness and 0°-layer ratio on failure mechanism of open-hole and filled-hole tensile tests of thin-ply composite laminates. Composite Structures, 280, p.114926. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.114926.
[7]    Blais, P., Toubal, L. and Zitoune, R., 2024. The influence of the hole-generation process on fatigue response of open-hole and assembled titanium samples. samples. Journal of manufacturing processes, 110, pp.412–423. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2024.01.007.
[8]    Shaari, N., Abdul Wahab, M.F., Shaari, N.S. and Jumahat, A., 2021. Unhole and open hole tensile properties of hybrid Kevlar/glass fiber polymer composites with different stacking sequence. Materials Today: Proceedings, 46, pp.1595–1599. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.249.
[9]    Azmi, N.N., Radi, M.M., Taufik, M.M., Adnan, N., Minhuaazam, L.N. and Mahmud, J., 2023. The effects of open hole and fiber orientation on Kevlar/Epoxy and Boron/Epoxy composite laminates under tensile loading. Materials Today: Proceedings, 75, pp.169-172. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2022.11.220.
[10]    Pothnis, J.R., Kalyanasundaram, D. and Gururaja, S., 2021. Enhancement of open hole tensile strength via alignment of carbon nanotubes infused in glass fiber-epoxy-CNT multi-scale composites. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 140, p.106155. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2020.106155.
[11]    Prajapati, A.R., Dave, H.K. and Raval, H.K., 2021. Effect of fiber reinforcement on the open hole tensile strength of 3D printed composites. Materials Today: Proceedings, 46, pp.8629–8633. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.03.597.
[12]    Bhatia, G.S. and Arockiarajan, A., 2023. Effect of interactions of two holes on tensile behavior of patch repaired carbon/epoxy woven laminates. Defence Technology, 21, pp.88–93. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2022.07.008.
[13]    Khosravani, M.R., Rezaei, S., Faroughi, S. and Reinicke, T., 2022. Experimental and numerical investigations of the fracture in 3D-printed open-hole plates. Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics, 121, p.103543. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tafmec.2022.103543.
[14]    Romanowicz, P.J., Szybiński, B. and Wygoda, M., 2024. Fatigue performance of open-hole structural elements reinforced by CFRP overlays. International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives, 130, p.103606. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijadhadh.2023.103606.
[15]    Pothnis, J.R., Hajagolkar, A.K., Anilchandra, A.R., Das, R. and Gururaja, S., 2023. Open-hole fatigue testing of UD-GFRP composite laminates containing aligned CNTs using infrared thermography. Composite Structures, 324, p.117557. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2023.117557.
[16]    Wisnom, M.R., Hallett, S.R. and Soutis, C., 2009. Scaling Effects in Notched Composites. Journal of Composite Materials, 44(2), pp.195–210. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0021998309339865.
[17]    Zhang, Y., Li, M., Guo, Q., Sun, X. and Chen, L., 2022. Tensile failure of multiaxial 3D woven composites with an open-hole: an experimental and numerical study. Composite Structures, 279, p.114746. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.114746.
[18]    Zhang, D., Zheng, X. and Wu, T., 2019. Damage characteristics of open-hole laminated composites subjected to longitudinal loads. Composite Structures, 230, p.111474. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2019.111474.
[19]    D5766/D5766M-11, “Standard Test Method for Open-Hole Tensile Strength of Polymer Matrix Composite,” ASTM Int., pp. 1–7, 2011.
[20]    Zhou, H.W., Yi, H.Y., Gui, L.L., Dai, G.M., Peng, R.D., Wang, H.W. and Mishnaevsky, L., 2013. Compressive damage mechanism of GFRP composites under off-axis loading: Experimental and numerical investigations. Composites Part B: Engineering, 55, pp.119–127. Doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2013.06.007.
[21]    Daniel, I.M., Luo, J., Schubel, P.M. and Werner, B.T., 2009. Interfiber/interlaminar failure of composites under multi-axial states of stress. Composites Science and Technology, 69(6), pp.764–771. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2008.04.016.
[22]    Zhou, G., Sun, Q., Li, D., Meng, Z., Peng, Y., Zeng, D. and Su, X., 2020. Effects of fabric architectures on mechanical and damage behaviors in carbon/epoxy woven composites under multiaxial stress states. Polymer Testing, 90, p.106657. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymertesting.2020.106657.
[23]    Ganesh, V.K. and Naik, N.K., 1995. Failure behaviour of plain weave fabric laminates under in-plane shear loading: effect of fabric geometry. Composite Structures, 30(2), pp.179–192. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0263-8223(94)00035-2.
[24]    Lu, Z., Zhou, Y., Yang, Z. and Liu, Q., 2013. Multi-scale finite element analysis of 2.5D woven fabric composites under on-axis and off-axis tension. Computational Materials Science, 79, pp.485–494. Doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2013.07.003.
[25]    Cichosz, J., Wehrkamp-Richter, T., Koerber, H., Hinterhölzl, R. and Camanho, P.P., 2016. Failure and damage characterization of (±30°) biaxial braided composites under multiaxial stress states. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 90, pp.748–759. Doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2016.08.002.
[26]    Yang, J., Yang, X., Zhu, H., Chen, X. and Qi, H., 2018. The effect of off-axis angles on the mesoscale deformation response and failure behavior of an orthotropic textile carbon-epoxy composite. Composite structures, 206, pp.952–959. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2018.08.010.
[27]    Liu, G., Huang, K., Zhong, Y., Li, Z., Yu, H., Guo, L. and Li, S., 2023. Investigation on the off-axis tensile failure behaviors of 3D woven composites through a coupled numerical-experimental approach. Thin-walled structures, 192, pp.111176–111176. Doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tws.2023.111176.
[28]    O’Higgins, R.M., McCarthy, M.A. and McCarthy, C.T., 2008. Comparison of open hole tension characteristics of high strength glass and carbon fibre-reinforced composite materials. Composites Science and Technology, 68(13), pp.2770–2778. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2008.06.003.
[29]    Babu, L.S., Kumar, K.A., Christiyan, K.J., Byary, M.A., Puranic, V.M., Jawad, A.M. and Poojary, N., 2023. Effect of laminate thickness on low-velocity impact of GFRP/epoxy composites. Materials Today: Proceedings, ISSN:2214-7853. Doi:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2023.08.229.
[30]    Babu, N. S. M. and Mathivanan N, R., 2021. Statistical analysis of drilled hole parameters during machining of carbon/glass FRP laminates. Advances in Materials and Processing Technologies, 8(2), 1408–1431. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/2374068X.2020.1860497
Mechanics of Advanced Composite Structures
Volume 12, Issue 2 - Serial Number 25
Special Issue on Mechanics of Advanced Fiber-Reinforced Composite Structures: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Semnan University, Handled by the Esteemed Journal Editor, Prof. Dr. Mavinkere Rangappa Sanjay - In Progress
August 2025
Pages 319-328

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics