EVALUATION OF FIBER TENSILE-STRENGTH AND FIBRE MATRIX ADHESION USING SINGLE-FIBER FRAGMENTATION TESTS/

Single fibre fragmentation tests were conducted to obtain a comprehens ive understanding of the fibre fragmentation phenomenon in several car bon fibre/epoxy composite systems. Fibre tensile strength and fibre/ma trix interfacial adhesion were evaluated, and some important experimen tal aspects associated with the evaluation of the test results were ad dressed. Fibre fragmentation :in a matrix is a complex process with ma ny factors interacting with each other, which influence the fibre frag mentation behaviour and, as a result, complicate the evaluation of the fibre/matrix interfacial properties. The failure modes of carbon fibr es in epoxy resins were also greatly influenced by the variations of t hese factors. Without considering the special mechanisms of the fibre fragmentation behaviour for individual fibre/matrix systems, equivocal results may be obtained by simply adopting certain micromechanics mod el to define interfacial parameters. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Limited . All rights reserved.