Fracture toughness of filament wound BFR and GFR arc shaped specimens with Charpy impact test method

The aim of this study is an examination of Charpy impact behaviors of 6 layered basalt (BFR) and glass fiber reinforced (GFR) epoxy composite pipe at the degree of +/- 55 degrees filament winding angle with the arc-shaped specimen technique of different notch depth ratios (a/W). As a result of Charpy impact experiments, BFR composites were determined to have higher impact energy level and impact fracture toughness than GFR composites. The occurred average delamination areas in between layers were detected by an image processing method during the impact process. The delamination damage in GFR composites was observed to be more dominant damage than in BFR composites. It is understood that damage modes change when the notch depth ratio increases for composites. In BFR composites, the predominant damage mode was determined to be fiber breakage as a consequence of experiments and SEM analyses. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.