Multimodal interlaminar fracture of soft/hard layered materials

This research study aimed to improve on the results of the Improved Mixed-Mode Bending paper by Fard and Bonney (2021), to improve the stiffness of testing fixtures for delamination testing in composites. This included a three-phase process, beginning with a literature review concluding on the flexibility of the current fixture, fabrication of revised parts with machining experts, and a Finite Element Analysis of 28 configurations of the fixture using ANSYS 2023, to a yield a maximum increase in stiffness of 40%.