Tensile Behavior of Laminates Used for Making Fiber Reinforced Plastic Vessels

The tensile behavior of laminates consisting of layers of veil, mat and woven roving is investigated. The results show that the fracture strain of the laminate is always smaller than the fracture strain of the more brittle constituent layer. It is shown that the rule of mixture can be used to calculate the modulus of the laminate knowing the moduli of the individual layers. The rule of mixture can also be used to calculate the tensile strength provided that the stress in the more ductile layer corresponding to the fracture strain of the more brittle layer is used.