Mechanisms of stress transfer and interface integrity in carbon/epoxy composites under compression loading Part I : experimental investigation

Raman spectroscopy is used to get an insight into the microstructural aspects of the compressional behavior of carbon fiber composites. This is done by a comparative assessment of the stress transfer efficiency in tension and compression in single-fiber discontinuous model geometries. It was found that axial stress is transferred in the fiber through the generation of shear stresses at the interface for both tension and compression loading. Experimental evidence is presented to verify that the values of the maximum interfacial shear stress that the system sustains is a function of the applied strain and independent of the type of loading. However, compressive failure is quite different as fiber fragments remain in contact, thus can still bear load. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd