Evaluation of transverse crack propagation and accumulation of carbon fiber reinforced plastics

In this paper, we evaluated transverse crack propagation and accumulation of CFRP laminates with kidney-shape carbon fibers by experimental and computational micromechanics. We investigated the effect of a cross-sectional shape of carbon fibers on the transverse crack density by the tensile tests of cross-ply laminates with round-shape and kidney-shape carbon fibers. We temporarily interrupted the tests and measured the crack density by replica...