Intralaminar fracture of unidirectional carbon/epoxy composite: experimental results and numerical analysis

Fracture of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) is dominated by large scale fiber bridging which acts as a very important toughening mechanism. The objective of this paper is to investigate the intralaminar Mode I fracture in a unidirectional CFRP composite in double cantilever beam specimens with thickness H = 6, 10 and 14 mm with a symmetric intralaminar precrack introduced by a thin diamond wire saw. Optical fibers with 10 multiplexed...