Delamination behaviour of carbon fibre/epoxy composite laminates with short fibre reinforcement

The delamination of laminated materials is a major mode of damage and failure in application. A study was undertaken to determine if the fracture toughness of these materials could be improved by using chopped Kevlar fibers (Kevlar 49) as interlaminar reinforcement in the center layer of composite laminates Hercules MI 1610 carbon fiber/epoxy. It was found that the introduction of these fibers resulted in a significant increase in toughness. It is anticipated that much tougher and stronger composite laminates can be produced if the short fiber reinforcement can be introduced between all layers of the continuous fibers.