Effect of notch size and fibre content on the tensile strength of fabric reinforced hybrid composites

Hybrid composite materials reinforced with woven fabrics are becoming increasingly popular for various structural applications in the automotive, aerospace, and other industrial sectors; particularly in thin walled structures. The present investigation concentrates on fabric-reinforced hybrid composite laminates with seven different volume fractions of the constituent materials; epoxy resin, plain-woven S2 glass fabric, and textile satin fabric. Fracture toughness of a material has immense importance in the determination of the resistance of the material to crack propagation. In this paper, an experimental investigation has been carried out on the tensile strength and fracture toughness of woven fabric reinforced hybrid composites with 0?/90? orientation for six different notch configurations. Experimentation and specimen dimensions are in accordance with ASTM D5766 standards. The fracture toughness has been found to increase continuously with increased volume of glass fabric, whereas the fracture toughness has been found to be less dependent of notch size upto certain limit.