Effect of hybrid structure on flexural strength of fiber reinforced curved composites

Yalcin Ozdemir

Pre-print pages 1-13

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62753/https://doi.org/10.62753/ctp.2026.01.2.2

keywords: composite materials, curved composite, flexural strength, hybrid composite

abstract Research on composite materials includes studies of both single types of fiber fabrics and hybrid structures containing more than one type of fiber. In addition, not only the materials used but also the various geometrical properties of composites are included in the literature. This study encompasses the production of epoxy-based composites reinforced with glass and carbon fibers employing various stacking sequence combinations in a hybrid manner by taking the diameter value (760 mm) as a coreference from the corresponding existing literature.  For this purpose, four distinct groups of specimens were fabricated: unidirectional glass fiber only, unidirectional carbon fiber only, and their hybrid configurations. Flexural tests were carried out on curved specimens at a fixed span to length ratio (1/32). The findings indicate significant strength variations across the specimen types, with the carbon fiber only specimens exhibiting the highest peak load value. Furthermore, the incorporation of hybrid structures demonstrated a beneficial enhancement in performance outcomes by reducing the production cost as an asset. Specifically, the [C3G]s specimens were found to yield favorable results in terms of both peak force and cost efficiency, thus affirming the advantages of the hybrid composite structure. In addition, the effect of different production parameters including the type of composite processing, namely vacuum infusion and hand layup, in addition to the curing temperature and time on the flexural strength of the resulting composites were investigated using flat specimens. The obtained experimental results were evaluated and discussed with emphasis placed on the peak strength.