TENSILE BEHAVIOR OF KNITTED CARBON-FIBER-FABRIC EPOXY LAMINATES .2. PREDICTION OF TENSILE PROPERTIES/

This paper describes models for predicting the elastic modulus and ten sile strength of knitted fabric reinforced epoxy laminates. The elasti c modulus is predicted by using a modified rule-of-mixtures law incorp orating the efficiency of reinforcement of curved spun yarn fibres. Th e predicted elastic moduli are in reasonably good agreement with the e xperimental results. The tensile strength is predicted from the sequen ce of events leading to fracture and by estimating the fracture streng th of fibre bundles bridging the fracture plane. The predicted tensile strengths are higher than the experimental values. This is attributed to the bending stresses which reduce the failure load of the bundles.