A wedge-DCB test methodology to characterise high rate mode-I interlaminar fracture properties of fibre composites

A combined numerical-experimental methodology is presented to measure dynamic Mode-I fracture properties of fiber reinforced composites. A modified wedge-DCB test using a Split-Hopkinson Bar technique along with cohesive zone modelling is utilised for this purpose. Three different comparison metrics, namely, strain-displacement response, crack propagation history and crack opening history are employed in order to extract unique values for the cohesive fracture properties of the delaminating interface. More importantly, the complexity of dealing with the frictional effects between the wedge and the DCB specimen is effectively circumvented by utilising right acquisition techniques combined with an inverse numerical modelling procedure. The proposed methodology is applied to extract the high rate interlaminar fracture properties of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composites and it is further shown that a high level of confidence in the calibrated data can be established by adopting the proposed methodology.