The translaminar fracture toughness of high-performance polymer fibre composites and their carbon fibre hybrids

The translaminar fracture toughness is a key property that governs the damage tolerance and notch sensitivity of fibre-reinforced composites. Compact tension tests were performed to investigate composites reinforced with three types high-performance polymer fibres: polyarylate (PAR), polybenzobisoxazole (PBO) aramid fibre. A carbon fibre composite was used as reference system. propagation toughnesses PAR PBO 492 kJ/m2 547 kJ/m2, respectively. These are among highest values recorded in literature. It hypothesized fibrillation fibres upon failure an important energy dissipating mechanism alongside pull-outs much longer than for Replacing small strip ply by or successfully material locally arresting crack growth. By contrast, performance their hybrids lacklustre. results presented this work can be further improve safety parts optimising design while also reducing weight parts.