The crush behaviour of carbon fibre angle-ply reinforcement and the effect of interlaminar shear strength on energy absorption capability

A series of carbon fibre epoxy laminates have been prepared with a range of fibre orientations. The laminates have been tested under compression loading conditions to measure the specific energy absorption in crushing. A relationship has been identified between the specific sustained crushing stress and the interlaminar shear stress of the materials. This relationship miners a similar trend identified for glass fibre composites in an earlier programme. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.