Fatigue of glass/epoxy composite in three-point-bending with predominant shearing

Unidirectional and multilayer composites are usually subjected to bending, and often fail in fatigue by interlaminar shearing. This work studies new experimental conditions in fatigue, using a three-point-bending test with predominant shearing, while tensile/compressive stresses are significant. The experimental device geometry is validated under monotonic loading by comparison between finite element results and experimental observations. The deflection amplitude vs. fatigue life curve is used as a pseudo-Wöhler curve. An approximate drawing of maximum deformation vs. fatigue life curve is proposed using Fournierʹs model. Experimental results in fatigue are well accounted for by this model.