Evaluation of Damage of Notched FRP Plates in Static Load

The validity of the concept of severity near the notch root for evaluating the strength of notched FRP plate is subjected to further experimental scrutiny. An experimental program is presented which examines the effect of notch geometry on the growth of the damage near the notch root of FRP plates subjected to tension or bending. Two kinds of FRP plates were used: a woven roving glass fabrics/epoxy laminate and a short glass fiber reinforced polycarbonate. To evaluate the damage near the notch root, we measured the luminance distributions by means of the luminance measuring technique with a CCD camera. The experiment shows that the growth of damaged zone near the notch root was governed predominantly by both the notch-root radius and the maximum elastic stress at the notch root, while it was independent of notch depth and type of loading. On the basis of the concept of severity near the notch root, the experimental results can be clearly elucidated.