Carbon-Aramid Fiber/Epoxy Hybrid Composite Laminates with the Presence of Defect: An Experimental Study

Carbon-Aramid fiber-reinforced epoxy has been used extensively in the aerospace and automobile industries. The combination of high-strength carbon fiber and the high toughness of aramid fiber is believed to be beneficial to the structural behavior of composites. In the current study, Aramid fiber was sandwiched between carbon fiber layers to maintain high strength and toughness simultaneously. The behavior of the laminate with the presence of an open hole and single-edge notch was investigated. For justification, the response of the hybrid laminate was compared with two other laminates, one is made totally from carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy (CFRP) and the other is made from aramid fiber-reinforced epoxy (AFRP). The effect of an open hole was assessed by a tension test, while the single-edge notch effect was evaluated by the flexural test. Tensile and flexural tests were also performed on the regular samples. As per the current results, the notch sensitivity of hybrid laminate was found to be less than that of CFRP laminate. The CFRP laminate failure type was dominated by delamination. AFRP composite laminate failure was dominated by fiber breakage and crack propagation through the matrix. The hybrid composite laminates were dominated by fiber breakage of the AFRP laminates and delamination of CFRP outer layers. The flexural modulus of hybrid laminate resulted in the greatest value, followed by CFRP and AFRP. The hybrid laminate’s fracture toughness is significantly higher than that of CFRP but lower than that of AFRP.