Effect of Strain Rate on the Compression Behaviour of a Woven Fabric S2-Glass Fiber Reinforced Vinyl Ester Composite

Abstract

Quasi-static (~10−3s−1) and high strain rate (>500 s−1) compression behavior of an S2-glass woven fabric/vinyl ester composite plate was determined in the in-plane and through-thickness directions. In both directions, modulus and failure strength increased with increasing strain rate. A higher strain rate sensitive modulus was found in the through-thickness direction while a higher strain rate sensitive failure strength was found in the in-plane direction. In the in-plane direction, the failure mode was observed to change from splitting followed by “kink banding” (localized fiber buckling) to predominantly splitting at increasing strain rates, while it remained the same in the through-thickness direction.