Central Crack Tearing Testing of Laminated Fabric Uretek3216LV under Uniaxial and Biaxial Static Tensile Loads

This paper deals with the tearing analysis on laminated fabrics used in pneumatic structures (specifically crack propagation and tearing strength). Uniaxial tearing tests were carefully conducted on specimens, and the influences of crack parameters on the tearing behaviors and strength of a laminated fabric were discussed. Afterward, the biaxial tearing tests were performed on the cruciform specimens to study their central tearing properties. The tearing strength and failure performance were significantly related to the stress ratios. With the same equivalent crack length, the samples under biaxial loads could show a higher tearing resistance than those under the uniaxial loads. Finally, the results of three different theories used to predict the uniaxial tearing strength were compared with the experimental results, and it was found that the Thiele theory provided the best prediction for the tearing strength of laminated fabrics.