Fracture toughness of fibre failure modes in laminated composites under dynamic loading

The fracture toughness regarding fibre tensile failure and fibre compression kinking was measured using compact tension and compact compression specimens on a uniaxial bi-directional electromagnetic Hopkinson bar system. During the dynamic tests, the strain/displacement fields were monitored using the digital image correlation technique with a high-speed camera. Digital and scanning electron microscopy were used to investigate the fracture faces of the tested specimens. The initial fracture toughness for fibre tensile failure under quasi-static and dynamic loading was 166 kJ/m² and 113 kJ/m², respectively. For fibre compression kinking, the initial fracture toughness was approximately 120 kJ/m² for both loading conditions. Less fibre pull-out may be responsible for the decrease in fracture toughness for fibre tensile failure under dynamic loading. Whereas for fibre compression kinking failure, there was no significant difference in the fracture faces of the damaged specimens at different loading rates.