Flexural and Impact Behaviour of Carbon/Basalt Fibers Hybrid Laminates

Basalt and E-glass fibers fabrics were combined with carbon fiber fabrics in order to prepare epoxy-based interlaminar hybrid composites and to investigate the hybridization effect on the flexural and impact properties of the resulting laminates. The flexural modulus of the composites depended on their composition according to a rule of mixture, while an important synergistic effect was detected for the ultimate flexural properties. Charpy impact tests evidenced a strength increase as basalt and glass fibers content increased. Interestingly, hybridization with basalt fibers promoted an increase of the adsorbed impact energy due to an enhancement of the fracture propagation component.