• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.241-253
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• 2018

Mode II fracture toughness, $K_{IIC}$, of single-ply triaxially woven fabric (TWF) composite due to tow waviness and anisotropy effects were numerically and experimentally studied. The numerical wavy beam network model with anisotropic material description denoted as TWF anisotropic was first validated with experimental Mode II fracture toughness test employing the modified compact tensile shear specimen configuration. 2D planar Kagome and TWF isotropic models were additionally constructed for various relative densities, crack lengths, and cell size parameters for examining effects due to tow waviness and anisotropy. $K_{IIC}$ generally increased with relative density, the inverse of cell size, and crack length. It was found that both the waviness and anisotropy of tow inflict a drop in $K_{IIC}$ of TWF. These effects were more adverse due to the waviness of tow compared to anisotropy.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.299-308
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• 2020

This study aims to carry out the experimental and numerical investigation on the flexural behavior of sandwich honeycomb composite (SHC) beams reinforced with novel triaxially woven fabric composite skins. Different stacking sequences of the carbon fiber reinforcement polymer (CFRP) laminate; i.e., 0°-direction of TW (TW0), 0°-direction of UD (UD0), and 90°-direction of UD (UD90) were studied, from which the flexural behavior of SHC beam behaviors reinforced with TW0/UD0 or TW0/UD90 novel laminated skins were compared with those reinforced with UD0/90 conventional laminated skins under four-point loading. Generally, TW0/UD0 SHC beams displayed the same flexural stiffness as UD0/90 SHC beams in terms of load-deflection relationships. In contrast, TW0/UD90 SHC beams showed a 70% lower efficiency than those of UD0/90 SHC. Hence, the TW0/UD0 laminate arrangement is more effective with a mass reduction of 39% compared with UD0/90 for SHC beams, although their stiffness and shear strength are practically identical.