MECHANICAL ENERGY ABSORPTION OF WEIGHT-BALANCED COMPOSITE LAMINATES UNDER TENSILE LOADS

Abstract

This original paper presents an evaluation of mechanical energy absorption of four weight-balanced composite laminates subjected to tensile loads until the ultimate tensile strength is reached. Glass fabric plies of 300 g/m2, 500 g/m2 and 800 g/m2 specific weights have been used to reinforce a thermoset resin to form weight-balanced composite structures. Load-extension distributions have been carried out on a LS100Plus Lloyd Instruments material testing machine using the NEXYGEN PLUS software. A 5th grade polynomial function as well as the R2-factor of these tensile tests have been computed using MATLAB software. This mathematical function presents R2-factors close to 1 for all weight-balanced composite laminates used in tensile tests. The highest mechanical energy absorption has been computed for the 500 g/m2 specific weight glass fabric reinforced polymer matrix composite laminate.