Compressive response of Z-pinned woven glass fiber textile composite laminates: Experiments

In the first of this two part sequel, experimental results pertaining to the compressive response and failure of Z-pinned S-Glass fiber, plain-weave laminated composites are presented. These experiments are motivated by a need to understand the effect of Z-pinning on the strength and stiffness of these composites. A series of experiments are performed based upon density of the Z-pins and the diameter of the Z-pins. It is concluded that the damage zone around a Z-pin plays an important role in influencing the stiffness and strength of the Z-pin composite. In part 2 of this sequel, a 3D finite element (FE) based numerical model (based upon the composite microstructure acquired from scanning electron micrograph-SEM images) are used to capture details of the observed failure mechanisms and to provide predictions of the stiffness and strength of the composite. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.