Cross-beam sandwich test

Apart from the short beam shear test, which measures the interlaminar shear properties, many different specimen geometry and loading configurations are available in the literature for the translaminar or in-plane strength measurements. These include the losipescu shear test, the 45°]5 tensile test, the [10°] off-axis tensile test, the rail-shear tests, the cross-beam sandwich test and the thin-walled tube torsion test. Since the state of shear stress in the test areas of the specimens is seldom pure or uniform in most of these techniques, the results obtained are likely to be inconsistent. In addition to the above shear tests, the transverse tension test is another simple popular method to assess the bond quality of bulk composites. Some of these methods are more widely used than others due to their simplicity in specimen preparation and data reduction methodology. 

Another test used to determine the shear modulus and shear strength of a composite material is the sandwich cross-beam test due to Shockey and described by Waddoups [2-17]. The composite lamina... 

ASTM D-1344 describes a cross-lap specimen of the type shown in Fig. 2d for determining tensile properties of adhesive bonds. Wood, glass, sandwich, and honeycomb materials have been tested as samples in this general configuration. Even under the best of circumstances, one would not anticipate the stress distribution in such a case to be very uniform. The exact stress distribution is highly dependent on the relative flexibilities of both the cross beams and the adhesive. Certainly, caution must be exercised when comparing tensile strength from this test with data obtained from other tensile tests. Probably for these reasons, this test is scheduled by ASTM for discontinuation. 

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