Intralaminar Fracture Toughness Characterization of a Torn High Strength Cloth with Dyneema® Fibers

Abstract

To investigate the damage tolerance of a flexible tsunami barrier, the intralaminar fracture toughness of a plain weave cloth, consisting of Dyneema© fibers and a plastomer resin, has been investigated.
Fracture toughness tests have been performed on center cracked tensile specimens, with varying sizes and initial crack ratios, under quasi static loading. The tests showed nonlinear behavior at the crack tip, leading to crack-blunting, fibers shifting and matrix release. This is due to the low adhesion of the matrix with the fibers and the flexible nature of the cloth. General failure mode proved to be strength-dominant and therefore no critical stress intensity factor could be determined.
To predict the failure and of the cloth, a numerical simulation based on the peridynamic framework is proposed. The model includes the anisotropic elasticity of the cloth but not the nonlinear effects like fiber shifting. Therefore the strength of the cloth is eventually underestimated.