ASTM D7905/D7905M-19 - 15.3.2019
 
Significance and Use

5.1 Susceptibility to delamination is one of the major design concerns for many advanced laminated composite structures. Knowledge of a laminated composite material’s resistance to interlaminar fracture is useful for product development and material selection. Furthermore, a measurement of the mode II interlaminar fracture toughness that is independent of specimen geometry or method of force introduction is useful for establishing design allowables used in damage tolerance analyses of composite structures. Knowledge of both the non-precracked and precracked toughnesses allows the appropriate value to be used for the application of interest.

5.2 This test method can serve the following purposes:

5.2.1 To establish quantitatively the effect of fiber surface treatment, local variations in fiber volume fraction, and processing and environmental variables on GIIc of a particular composite material;

5.2.2 To compare quantitatively the relative values of GIIc for composite materials with different constituents;

5.2.3 To compare quantitatively the values of GIIc obtained from different batches of a specific composite material, for example, to use as a material screening criterion or to develop a design allowable; and

5.2.4 To develop delamination failure criteria for composite damage tolerance and durability analyses.

 
1. Scope

1.1 This test method covers the determination of the mode II interlaminar fracture toughness, GIIc, of unidirectional fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composite laminates under mode II shear loading using the end-notched flexure (ENF) test (Fig. 1).

FIG. 1 ENF Test Fixture and Specimen Nomenclature

1.2 This method is limited to use with composites consisting of unidirectional carbon-fiber- and glass-fiber-reinforced laminates. This limited scope reflects the experience gained in round robin testing. This test method may prove useful for other types and classes of composite materials; however, certain interferences have been noted (see Section 6).

1.3 The values stated in either SI units or inch-pound units are to be regarded separately as standard. The values stated in each system are not necessarily exact equivalents; therefore, to ensure conformance with the standard, each system shall be used independently of the other, and values from the two systems shall not be combined.

1.3.1 Within the text the inch-pound units are shown in brackets.

1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.5 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

 
2. Referenced Documents

E1434-00

Standard Guide for Recording Mechanical Test Data of Fiber-Reinforced Composite Materials in Databases

E1309-00

Standard Guide for Identification of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Matrix Composite Materials in Databases

D2584-25

Standard Test Method for Ignition Loss of Cured Reinforced Resins

D2734-23

Standard Test Methods for Void Content of Reinforced Plastics

D3171-22

Standard Test Methods for Constituent Content of Composite Materials

D3878-26

Standard Terminology for Composite Materials

D5229/D5229M-20

Standard Test Method for Moisture Absorption Properties and Equilibrium Conditioning of Polymer Matrix Composite Materials

D5687/D5687M-20

Standard Guide for Preparation of Flat Composite Panels with Processing Guidelines for Specimen Preparation

D7264/D7264M-21

Standard Test Method for Flexural Properties of Polymer Matrix Composite Materials

E4-24

Standard Practices for Force Calibration and Verification of Testing Machines

E6-25

Standard Terminology Relating to Methods of Mechanical Testing

E18-25

Standard Test Methods for Rockwell Hardness of Metallic Materials

E122-17(2022)

Standard Practice for Calculating Sample Size to Estimate, With Specified Precision, the Average for a Characteristic of a Lot or Process

D883-26

Standard Terminology Relating to Plastics

E691-23

Standard Practice for Conducting an Interlaboratory Study to Determine the Precision of a Test Method

E456-13a(2022)e1

Standard Terminology Relating to Quality and Statistics (Includes all amendments and changes 4/16/2024).

E1471-92(1998)

Standard Guide for Identification of Fibers, Fillers, and Core Materials in Computerized Material Property Databases

D792-20

Standard Test Methods for Density and Specific Gravity (Relative Density) of Plastics by Displacement

E177-26a

Standard Practice for Use of the Terms Precision and Bias in ASTM Test Methods (Includes all amendments and changes 5/14/2026).