Fiber bridging in composite laminates: A literature review

Fiber reinforced composites are quickly replacing their metal counterparts in the structural applications due to their higher specific strength and stiffness. The fiber bridging increases the fracture toughness of the composites several times. At the same time, the characterization of the composites is challenging due to fiber bridging. Large number of studies has been devoted to investigate various aspects of fiber bridging phenomenon in the composites. This paper is a comprehensive review of the literature studies on fiber bridging. The paper is mainly focused on the origin of fiber bridging, bridging laws, experimental investigations and cohesive zone modeling of the delamination in the presence of fiber bridging. The fatigue delamination growth characterization in the presence of fiber bridging and the significance of stitching/z-pinning are also briefly discussed in this literature review.