Developing Industrial Testing Methods forScreening the Off-Axis Performance ofAlternative GRP Fibers

The composites industry faces a frequent laminate testing need due to the improvement of materials, quality control and supplier changes. For economical reasons, the industrial testing methods must be swift, inexpensive and rugged, yet give reliable data on the essential qualities. In the wind turbine blade industry, these qualities include laminate off-axis fatigue properties, whose traditional testing methods cost considerable amounts of time and money. In this study, the laminate offaxis properties testing methods are streamlined to yield sufficiently reliable data for choosing the best fiber product out of several candidates to the specified application.