Professor Michael Wisnom, Director of the Bristol Composites Institute, was invited to give a lecture at the Purdue University's Global Composites Experts webinar series, which examines the history, present capabilities, and future of composites science and technology. The goal of the series is to share the vast knowledge of composites that has been developed over the past 50 years.
Professor Wisnom gave a lecture on 19 November with the title 'The Challenges of Determining the Strength of Composites'. Professor Wisnom addressed the question: "Why are there such large differences in reported strengths of composites?". Some of the reasons are the definition of strength, material variability, poor test methods, and subtle variations in carrying out the tests. There are other important factors that affect strength that are not always fully appreciated, and these are discussed for unidirectional composites and laminates. The conclusion is that there is a need to synthesize the huge amount of published work in order to reach a consensus on the best test methods and the further research that is required.
The recording of the lecture can be viewed online. The PowerPoint presentation is available for download below.
The Challenges of Determining the Strength of Composites (PDF, 2,704kB) – Professor Michael Wisnom