Abstract
This paper is one of a series describing work aimed at comparing and eval uating various standard methods for the mechanical testing of laminated composites. The work is based on test methods specified by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM), the British Standards Institution (BSI) and the Composites Research Advisory Group (CRAG). Previous papers [1,2] describe the use of these methods for testing carbon fibre and glass fibre reinforced plastics composites respectively. The current paper describes the extension of the earlier work to cover "Kevlar" fibre reinforced plastics (KFRP). Tests were made in tension, compression and flexure modes; the standard tests used here evaluated the strength and stiffness of the laminates studied. It was found that although the recommendations of the standards by the three institutes are broadly similar a number of substantial differences arose in the results.
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