Compressive failure of fiber reinforced polymer composites by imperfection

In this paper, the lateral disturbance (loading imperfection) is considered as another new external factor which causes compression instability of composite besides fiber misalignment (structure imperfection). Four typical stages of the unidirectional fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites compression instability are established: uniform compression, elastic instability, plastic deformation and plastic instability in which some suggestions on material performance that can be delayed for each stage propagation are given. Then, the compressive behaviors induced by loading and structure imperfection are compared regarding elastic and plastic buckle. In addition, the theoretical prediction model of compressive strength considering coupling influence of loading and structure imperfection has been proposed. Finally, the coupling theoretical prediction models has been verified by numerical calculation and experimental results which could provide new idea for solving low compressive strength of the FRP composite.