THE EFFECT OF FIBRE ORIENTATION ON THE SHOCK RESPONSE OF A GLASS-FIBRE EPOXY COMPOSITE

The response of a 2‐D glass‐fibre epoxy composite to one‐dimensional shock loading has been investigated as a function of orientation of the fibres to the loading axis, to determine its equation of state. When the shock axis is parallel to a fibre direction, the shock front appears ramped at low stresses, steepening as the impact stress increases. Analysis of these traces suggests that a low stress amplitude wave is transmitted along the fibres at a high velocity, with a lower velocity wave is transmitted through the matrix between those fibres, taking the material to its final stress amplitude.