Interlaminar Shear Behavior of Laminated Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic from Microscale Strain Distributions Measured by Sampling Moiré Technique

In this article, the interlaminar shear behavior of a [±45°]_4s laminated carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) specimen is investigated, by utilizing microscale strain mapping in a wide field of view. A three-point bending device is developed under a laser scanning microscope, and the full-field strain distributions, including normal, shear and principal strains on the cross section of CFRP, in a three-point bending test, are measured using a developed sampling Moiré technique. The microscale shear strain concentrations at interfaces between each two adjacent layers were successfully detected and found to be positive-negative alternately distributed before damage occurrence. The 45° layers slipped to the right relative to the -45° layers, visualized from the revised Moiré phases, and shear strain distributions of the angle-ply CFRP under different loads. The absolute values of the shear strain at interfaces gradually rose with the increase of the bending load, and the sudden decrease of the shear strain peak value implied the occurrence of interlaminar damage. The evolution of the shear strain concentrations is useful in the quantitative evaluation of the potential interlaminar shear failure.