Fracture behaviour and mechanical properties of composites

Understanding the fracture behavior of composite materials is a key parameter in optimizing design  and production routes as well as their mechanical performance. We study the mechanical and fracture behaviour of polymer- and ceramic-matrix composite materials under a wide range of specimen geometries and loading configurations. We are interested in identifying the damage and failure mechanisms developing at the microscale during loading as well as in understanding their correlation and evaluating their role in the material failure.

Researchers involved:
• Konstantinos Dassios
• Dimitris Kastanis
• Panagiotis Pappas
• George Trakakis

Relevant Publications:

  1. "Matrix cracking in polymeric composites laminates: Modelling and experiments” by D.T.G. Katerelos, M.Kashtalyan, C.Soutis, C.Galiotis, Composites Science and Technology, 68/12 (2008), 2310-2317. Download the paper (pdf)
  2. “Energy criterion for modelling damage evolution in cross-ply composite laminates” by D.T.G. Katerelos, J. Varna, C. Galiotis, Composites Science and Technology, 68/12 (2008), 2318-2324 Download the paper (pdf)
  3. "A review of the pull-out mechanism in the fracture of brittle-matrix fibre-reinforced composites", K. Dassios, Advanced Composites Letters 16 (2007), 17-24 Download the paper (pdf)