ON THE INTERFACIAL BEHAVIOR OF A GLASS EPOXY COMPOSITE DURING A MICRO-INDENTATION TEST - ASSESSMENT OF INTERFACIAL SHEAR-STRENGTH USING REDUCED INDENTATION CURVES/

A micro-indentation test has been used to assess the fibre-matrix inte rfacial shear strength of a unidirectional glass/epoxy composite. The test consists of indenting with a Vickers' indentor the cross-section of a fibre which is perpendicular to the polished section of a real co mposite specimen. A specific treatment of the indentation curve is pro posed to derive a debonding load without the need for a large set of e xperiments and the necessity of a systematic optical investigation of the indented fibres. This approach was based on the quantification of the two components of the indentor displacement, i.e. the elasto-plast ic indentation of the fibre surface by the Vickers' indentor and the d isplacement of the fibre surface due to compression of the fibre and d eflection of the epoxy matrix. This test method was applied to fibres coated with a sizing including an aminosilane as a coupling agent. Cop yright (C) 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Limited.