Failure behavior of E-glass fiber- and fabric-reinforced IPC composites under tension and compression loading

This paper analyzes the failure behavior of E-glass reinforced inorganic phosphate cement composites in tension and compression. The first part of the study experimentally evaluates the behavior of different composite systems resulting from three different manufacturing processes (hand lay-up, pultrusion and pultrusion/compression). Tensile and compression tests are performed on fiber orientations ranging from 0° to 90°, and the mechanical tests are analyzed in terms of failure strength and failure modes. The prediction of failure strength is approached using mechanical models found in the literature. The comparison of experimental and modeling results is unsatisfactory, confirming the necessity of establishing adapted fracture criteria. The second part of this paper concerns the establishment of a failure envelope based on the Tsai–Wu and Mohr–Coulomb criteria. The anisotropic nature of the composite is accounted for by the Tsai–Wu criterion, while the Mohr–Coulomb criterion allows for the modeling of the mineral matrix’s brittle behavior. The maximum stress criterion is also compared to the obtained envelope curves.