Delamination R-curve as a material property of unidirectional glass/epoxy composites

It is still questionable to think of delamination resistance of a double cantilever beam (DCB) as a material property independent of the specimen size and geometry. In this research, the effects of initial crack length and DCB specimen thickness on the mode I delamination resistance curve (R-curve) behavior of different unidirectional glass/epoxy DCB specimens are experimentally investigated. It is observed that the magnitudes of initiation and propagation delamination toughness (G(Ic-init) and G(Ic-prop)) as well as the fiber bridging length are constant in a specific range of the initial crack length to the DCB specimen thickness ratios of 8.5 < a(0)/h < 19. Finally, a mathematical relationship is proposed for prediction of mode I delamination behavior (from the initiation to propagation) of E-glass/epoxy DCB specimens. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.