A New Method for Obtaining the in Situ Interfacial Shear Strength of the 3D Woven Composite

The interfacial strengths have significant effects on the accuracy of numerical simulations for the 3D woven composite (3DWC). However, obtaining the in situ interfacial strengths of the 3DWC currently presents substantial challenges. Furthermore, it remains questionable whether the interlaminar strength of laminate composites can represent the interfacial strength of the 3DWC. This paper proposes an in situ experiment-simulation (ISES) method to determine the shear strength of the interface within the 3DWC. For this purpose, several novel off-axis tensile specimens were designed with a simplified and continuous interface structure. A corresponding full-scale finite element (FE) model based on the mesoscale structure of the specimen was established, employing the cohesive zone model to describe the interface mechanical behavior. The in situ interfacial shear strength of the 3DWC was then obtained using the proposed ISES method.