Numerical method for the prediction of bending properties of glass-epoxy composites

Mechanical properties of composite materials are conditioned by their structure and depend on the characteristics of structural components. In this paper is presented a numerical model by which the bending properties can be predicted on the basis of known mechanical properties of tension and pressure. Determining the relationship between these properties is justified having in mind the mechanics of fracture during bending, where the fracture takes place on the outer layer which is subjected to bending while the break ends on the layer subjected to pressure. The paper gives the values of tension, pressure and bending properties obtained by the corresponding mechanical test. A comparison of the numerical results of bending properties obtained on the basis of the model with the experimental ones, shows their satisfactory agreement. Therefore, this model can be used for some future research to predict bending properties without experiments