A Study on the Effects of Fiber Orientation on Woven Glass Fiber Composite Structures

Abstract

. Scholars have studied hybrid composites for decades in the search of finding some good outcome which could be used for different purposes. The present study is focused on studying the effects of fiber orientation through mechanical testing on coupons made according to ASTM standards and through dropped weight test on tubes made of the same configuration. Initially, the tensile experiments of laminas; normal [0/90] and oriented [+45/45] are conducted as a preliminary study and a distinctive behaviour could be seen. The oriented one shows low tensile strength and low modulus but very high failure strains while the other one having high tensile strength and modulus but low failure strain. In the laminate of 3 plies [(0/90) 3 ] and [(0/90)/(+45/-45)/(0/90)], upon comparing the results, it is found that the tensile and compressive stress-strain results are almost similar but the shear experimental result shows some interesting behaviour due to the addition of a (+45/-45)ply in the middle of the later laminate. Axial Dropped weight tests on circular tubes made of the same configuration are also conducted for comparing the energy absorption characteristics and failure behaviours.