ABSTRACT
The effect of hybridization on the buckling characteristics of flat pultruded glass-graphite/epoxy composites was investigated. Theoretical buckling load calculations were obtained based on Euler’s formulation for buckling. Finite element models were constructed with different beam dimensions and end constraint conditions to simulate buckling. Experiments were conducted to verify and validate the theoretical and finite element results.
The experimental results were found to be consistent with the theoretical and the finite element models. The buckling characteristics of composites showed the buckling strengths to improve with increase in the graphite fiber content. The improvements were more pronounced when glass fibers were replaced with graphite fibers in the outer layers of the composite. The effectiveness of hybridization to improve buckling performance of composites is highlighted.
