Damage Tolerance of Laminated Composites Containing an Open Hole and Subjected to Compressive Loadings: Part II—Experiment

Abstract

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the compression response of composite plates containing holes. Compression tests were performed on T300/976 Graphite/Epoxy composites for five different ply orientations, covering a wide range of response types. For each ply orientation, different geometries were chosen, giving a total of over 30 different test configurations. Two of the layups were also tested for the effect of ply clustering. The samples were tested for their compressive response to initial detection of failure, and beyond to final failure. Load-shortening measurements, microscopy, and Dye-Enhanced X-Radiography were used as evaluation techniques. Based on the study, it was found that ply orientation significantly affects damage mechanisms of composites in compression. Different failure mechanisms will result in totally different failure modes and failure loads, and response of the materials beyond initial failure.