An experimental study of the translaminar fracture toughnesses in composites for different crack growth directions, parallel and transverse to the fiber direction

This work studies how the direction of crack propagation affects the translaminar fracture toughness in composites. In particular, this work focuses on propagation mode-I toughness. The two extreme cases are analyzed: crack propagating in the direction either parallel or perpendicular to the fibers (always without breaking fibers). To evaluate the effect of the direction of crack propagation, an experimental campaign was carried out by two new...