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Compressive properties of thin tow-based discontinuous composites

Compressive properties of thin tow-based discontinuous composites
Compressive properties of thin tow-based discontinuous composites

Ultra-thin tow-based discontinuous composites are an emerging class of composite materials which can be used for high performance applications in a wide range of industries. They offer significant advantages compared to continuous composites, such as reduced waste material, enhanced formability and even increased mechanical properties. However, the properties of composite materials under compression are often a limiting factor in structural design. Measuring the compressive properties of composites is also non-trivial, as premature failures are occurring often with the existing testing standards. Finally, the compressive response of discontinuous composites is currently unclear as the existing studies are limited. This work presents a full experimental campaign on the characterization of the compressive response of ultra-thin tow-based discontinuous composites. A uniaxial test is initially employed which reveals instabilities, premature failures and large experimental scatter. Afterwards, a sandwich beam bending test is employed which allows to measure the compressive properties accurately with low variability. The compressive strains measured exceed 1 %, which is also the tensile limit for this material. The agreement between the tensile and compressive strength was investigated by using scanning electron microscopy which revealed that the damage was controlled by matrix deformation in the tow interfaces.

Compressive testing, Damage characterisation, Fractography, Sandwich beam bending, Tow-based discontinuous composites
1359-8368
Katsivalis, Ioannis
d5162f7b-334f-4955-863a-75dba6f48d9b
Tongloet, Aree
c968e5be-6cfd-4331-9995-cf5728a579d0
Wu, Xun
1e74bd51-8916-49ea-883b-371108be7ea5
Norrby, Monica
1873c332-39e4-4c25-a6ee-8f3cfb1f7542
Moreau, Florence
2c370dcb-5aaa-4472-8855-2dad7c29ea62
Pimenta, Soraia
8b185680-85ab-4324-b082-a05c69f7e3c7
Wisnom, Michael R.
93bec88e-5256-49f2-9869-5ac551e18d7a
Zenkert, Dan
7e00dfa8-d639-42a4-ad26-3913275ba560
Asp, Leif E.
46e233fa-963a-4127-9e50-93a7c381d9d2
Katsivalis, Ioannis
d5162f7b-334f-4955-863a-75dba6f48d9b
Tongloet, Aree
c968e5be-6cfd-4331-9995-cf5728a579d0
Wu, Xun
1e74bd51-8916-49ea-883b-371108be7ea5
Norrby, Monica
1873c332-39e4-4c25-a6ee-8f3cfb1f7542
Moreau, Florence
2c370dcb-5aaa-4472-8855-2dad7c29ea62
Pimenta, Soraia
8b185680-85ab-4324-b082-a05c69f7e3c7
Wisnom, Michael R.
93bec88e-5256-49f2-9869-5ac551e18d7a
Zenkert, Dan
7e00dfa8-d639-42a4-ad26-3913275ba560
Asp, Leif E.
46e233fa-963a-4127-9e50-93a7c381d9d2

Katsivalis, Ioannis, Tongloet, Aree, Wu, Xun, Norrby, Monica, Moreau, Florence, Pimenta, Soraia, Wisnom, Michael R., Zenkert, Dan and Asp, Leif E. (2024) Compressive properties of thin tow-based discontinuous composites. Composites Part B: Engineering, 292, [112085]. (doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2024.112085).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Ultra-thin tow-based discontinuous composites are an emerging class of composite materials which can be used for high performance applications in a wide range of industries. They offer significant advantages compared to continuous composites, such as reduced waste material, enhanced formability and even increased mechanical properties. However, the properties of composite materials under compression are often a limiting factor in structural design. Measuring the compressive properties of composites is also non-trivial, as premature failures are occurring often with the existing testing standards. Finally, the compressive response of discontinuous composites is currently unclear as the existing studies are limited. This work presents a full experimental campaign on the characterization of the compressive response of ultra-thin tow-based discontinuous composites. A uniaxial test is initially employed which reveals instabilities, premature failures and large experimental scatter. Afterwards, a sandwich beam bending test is employed which allows to measure the compressive properties accurately with low variability. The compressive strains measured exceed 1 %, which is also the tensile limit for this material. The agreement between the tensile and compressive strength was investigated by using scanning electron microscopy which revealed that the damage was controlled by matrix deformation in the tow interfaces.

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Accepted/In Press date: 17 December 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 17 December 2024
Published date: 21 December 2024
Keywords: Compressive testing, Damage characterisation, Fractography, Sandwich beam bending, Tow-based discontinuous composites

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 501211
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/501211
ISSN: 1359-8368
PURE UUID: b524fe7c-5e88-4add-9d05-2e5c6af76b37
ORCID for Xun Wu: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2862-6921

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Date deposited: 27 May 2025 17:29
Last modified: 22 Aug 2025 02:46

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Contributors

Author: Ioannis Katsivalis
Author: Aree Tongloet
Author: Xun Wu ORCID iD
Author: Monica Norrby
Author: Florence Moreau
Author: Soraia Pimenta
Author: Michael R. Wisnom
Author: Dan Zenkert
Author: Leif E. Asp

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