Determination of Mode II Interlaminar Fracture Toughness of CFRP Composites Using Numerical Simulations
This paper deals with a numerical simulation of the interlaminar fracture toughness of woven carbon fibre reinforced polymer. Composite materials are increasingly used for their unique properties in many branches of engineering. They are also used for flexible components such as springs, couplings, etc. The strength of these parts must be determined not only in terms of their intralaminar properties but also in terms of their interlaminar properties. This paper provides a methodology for determining the main parameters for Mode II interlaminar fracture toughness using numerical simulation. End Notch Flexure (ENF) specimens were created for fitting fracture toughness parameters of the laminate according to ASTM standards. Three point bending ENF tests were carried out on a Zwick/Roell Z050 machine. The numerical simulation was created in Siemens Simcenter 12.0 using NX Nastran nonlinear solver. The results from the numerical simulation correspond to those from the experimental test with an accuracy of 4%.