Cui, HaoYasaee, MehdiHallett, Stephen R.Partridge, Ivana K.Allegri, GiulianoPetrinic, Nik2018-01-052018-01-052017-11-23Hao Cui, Mehdi Yasaee, Stephen R. Hallett, et. al., Dynamic bridging mechanisms of through-thickness reinforced composite laminates in mixed mode delamination. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Volume 106, 2018, Pages 24-331359-835Xhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2017.11.017https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/12846Delamination resistance of composite laminates can be improved with through-thickness reinforcement such as Z-pinning. This paper characterises the bridging response of individual carbon fibre/BMI Z-pins in mixed mode delamination at high loading rate using a split Hopkinson bar system. The unstable failure process in quasi-static tests, was also captured with high sampling rate instruments to obtain the complete bridging response. The energy dissipation of the Z-pins were analysed, and it was found that the efficacy of Z-pinning in resisting delamination growth decreased with an increase in mixed mode ratio, with a transition from pull-out to pin rupture occurring. The Z-pin efficacy decreased with loading rate for all mode mix ratios, due to the changing in failure surface with loading rate and rate-dependent frictional sliding.enAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 InternationalFracture toughnessFailureDelamination3-Dimensional reinforcementArticle18924189