Flexural behaviour of glass fibre-reinforced plastic laminates with drilled hole

Abstract

Drilling is one of the most commonly used process for hole making. Drilling of polymer matrix composites (PMCs) causes substantial damage around the drilled hole. Drilling-induced damage not only decreases the strength of the composite laminate with hole, but it also deteriorates the long-term performance of the PMC laminates under different loading conditions. In the present research investigation, the flexural behaviour of the glass fibre-reinforced plastic laminates with drilled hole was experimentally investigated under three-point loading conditions. The results of the experimental investigation were compared with those of the finite element model and were found to be in close agreement.