Strain rate and temperature dependence of tensile strength for carbon/glass fibre hybrid composites

The tensile strength of epoxy resin reinforced with a random planar orientation of short carbon and glass fibres increased as the strain rate increased, and the increase in tensile strength became slightly remarkable with increasing temperature. The strain rate-temperature superposition was held for each composite. The strain rate and temperature dependence of tensile strength of composites could be estimated based on the dependence of the mechanical properties of the matrix resin, the interfacial yield shear strength and the critical fibre length. The strain rate and temperature dependence of the tensile strength of the hybrid composite could be estimated by the additive rule of hybrid mixtures, using the strain rate and temperature dependence of the tensile strength of both composites. The experimental values at a higher rate were lower than the calculated values. It was hypothesized that this may have been caused by the ineffective fibres formed during preparation of the specimen.