The Effect of Bias and Shear Angles on Compressive Characteristics of Carbon/Epoxy Plain Weave Fabrics

Various compressive specimens were fabricated using autoclave de-gassing moulding to find out the compressive characteristics of the carbon/epoxy plain weave fabric composites with respect to the bias and shear angles. The stacking angles of the bias specimens are [0](10T), [3](10T), [6](10T), [9](10T), [12](10T), [15](10T), [30](10T), [45](10T) and those of the sheared specimens are [+/- 37](10T), [+/- 32](10T), [+/- 28](10T), [+/- 22](10T) respectively. In order to verify the effect of micro -tow structures on compressive strength and modulus of the composites, compressive test specimens of uni-directional carbon/epoxy composites with the same materials and the same stacking conditions were fabricated. The modulus and strength of both types of composite specimens were compared with the prediction results based on the CLPT and a proposed strength formula. The tow deformation and fracture modes were investigated by microscopic observation.