JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE 19 ( 1 9 8 4 ) 57-72

Compressive and torsional behaviour of

Kevlar 49 fibre
S. J. D E T E R E S A , S. R. A L L E N , R. J. FARRIS, R. S. PORTER
Materials Research Laboratory, Polymer Science and Engineering Department,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts01003, USA

The mechanical anisotropy of an aromatic polyamide fibre, Kevlar 49, was studied in
tension, compression and torsion. A new technique involved applying small and defined
compressive strains to filaments by bonding them to one side of a beam which is
subsequently bent to compress the fibres. Using scanning electron and optical
microscopy, fibres were shown to form regularly-spaced helical kink bands at 50 to 60 ~
to the fibre axis after the application of small axial compressive strains. Tensile tests of
previously-compressed fibres revealed only a 10% loss in tensile strength, after application
of as much as 3% compressive strain. A torsion pendulum apparatus was used to measure
the shear modulus and an apparent shear strength of fibres. A loss of tensile strength after
the application of large (> 10%) torsional shear strains coincided with a loss in
recoverable shear strain due to longitudinal fibre splitting. Ratios of tensile-to-
compressive strength, tensile-to-shear strength and tensile-to-shear moduli of 5:1, 17:1,
and 70:1, respectively, were measured for Kevlar 49.

1. Introduction aramid fibres to other states of stress or strain is

Reinforcing fibres based on aromatic polyamides available.
(aramids) consist of highly oriented and therefore We have restricted our attention in this work to
highly anisotropic structures. Consequently such Kevlar 49 fibres because they exhibit the highest
fibres are expected to exhibit anisotropy in their orientation and tensile modulus, and therefore
mechanical behaviour. To predict the performance presumably the largest degree of anisotropy among
of composites reinforced with anisotropic fila- the Kevlar family of commercial fibres.
ments it is necessary to consider the fibre elastic In this study we seek to contribute further to
constants and strengths along all three material understanding the compressive behaviour of Kevlar
axes. In this study the results of an investigation of by studying the fibre under "uniform" axial com-
the behaviour of an aramid fibre under axial pression. Uniform compression of fine filaments is
compression and torsion are presented. achieved with techniques that involve compression
The high modulus aramid fibres manufactured or shrinkage of a matrix containing the aligned
by E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Co. under the fibres. We also introduce a new method which
name Kevlar have been used widely in composites allows the application of small and known com-
and as cables and fabrics for aerospace, industrial pressive strains to fibres by bonding them to the
and consumer applications. Kevlar fibres are based compression side of an elastic beam.
on highly oriented rigid chains of poly(p-phenylene In preliminary publications [1, 2] we reported
terephthalamide) (PPTA) and exhibit tensile on the formation of kinks in Kevlar 49 fibres sub-
moduli and strengths comparable to high perform- jected to uniform compression due to matrix
ance metal, glass and carbon fibres. Although the shrinkage. The results included information on the
substantial tensile properties along the fibre axis tensile properties of compressed Kevlar fibres.
have been well characterized, relatively little With this paper we present a more detailed study
information concerning the response of these of the kink phenomenon with emphasis on the
0022-2461/84 $03.00 + .12 9 1984 Chapman and Hall Ltd. 57
consequent effect on the tensile behaviour of uni- TABLE I Unidirectional composite lamina properties of
formly compressed Kevlar 49 fibres. fibre-reinforced epoxy [7]
Due to the minute lateral dimensions of high Axial property Reinforcement
modulus fibres (diameter ~ 10/~m), determination Kevlar 49 E-Glass Graphite
of the elastic constants and material strengths is
Tensile strength 1.38 1.10 1.24
difficult in directions other than along the fibre (GPa)
axis. However a shear modulus and an apparent Compressive strength 276 586 1 I00
shear strength can be obtained from simple torsion (MPa)
tests. Although the shear strains in a fibre under Tensile and compressive 75.8 39.3 13I
torsion are radially distributed from a maximum at moduli (GPa)
the surface to zero at the core, the test provides a Tensile to compressive 5 1.9 1.1
reasonable measure of some of the shear proper- strength ratio
ties of fibrous materials [3]. Indeed torsional rigid- In-plane shear 2.07 3.45 4.83
ities of textile fibres are frequently measured and modulus (GPa)
and as a result a number of torsion test methods In-plane shear 44.1 62.0 62.0
strength (MPa)
have been developed (see, for instance, [3, 4]). We
lnterlaminar shear 48-69 83 97
have constructed a simple torsion pendulum strength (MPa)
apparatus to characterize Kevlar 49. As in our
compression studies, we complete this work by
examining the effect of torsion on the tensile low compressive strength of Kevlar composites can
properties of the Kevlar fibre. To our knowledge, be attributed to the poor compressive strength of
this is the first time any information on the the fibres and not to either the matrix or the
torsional properties of Kevlar 49 has been fibre-matrix interface.
reported. The formation of the kink bands in Kevlar
fibres subjected to compressive strains in bending
2. Background has been well documented [6, 8, 11, 12]. Similar
Previous studies of the compressive behaviour of band formation has also been seen in fibres
Kevlar fibres had been undertaken to explain the extracted from axially compressed unidirectional
limited axial compressive strength of Kevlar- composites [6, 8].
reinforced composites [5, 6]. Although the tensile The morphology of compressive kink bands in
properties of unidirectional aramid composites Kevlar fibres has been investigated using scanning
compare favourably with carbon and glass fibre- and transmission electron microscopy by Dobb
reintbrced materials, the axial compressive and co-workers [6]. Fibres were compressed by
strength of Kevlar composites is known to be sig- bending techniques and by the compression of a
nificantly less than the compressive strengths of Kevlar composite. Some of their results and con-
glass and carbon composites [7-9]. Typical fibre clusions that are pertinent to this study are:
composite properties are listed in Table I. The 1. Deviation from elastic behaviour with accom-
compressive stress-strain curve for unidirectional panying kink band formation occurred at ~ 0.5%
Kevtar-epoxy composites has been shown to bending strain in the elastica test.
exhibit elastic-plastic behaviour with yield at 2. Kinks were observed to unfold under tension
approximately 0.3% compressive strain [9, 10]. indicating that the kink boundary acts somewhat
The first attempt to characterize the compres- like a hinge.
sive properties of Kevlar fibres themselves was 3. Flexural fatiguing at an apparent bending
reported by Greenwood and Rose [5]. By measur- strain of 2% resulted in a loss in tensile strength of
ing the geometry of the elastico they were able to ~<20%,
determine that the fibres apparently yielded at 4. The tensile fracture morphology of pre-
bending strains of about 0.7%. The apparent plas- viously compressed fibres was a surface plane
ticity corresponded to the formation of kink oriented at 45 ~ to the fibre axis.
bands at oblique angles to the fibre axis on the In this study, every technique for applying a
compressive side of the bent fibre. Because most uniform compressive strain to fibres has in com-
polymer matrices have elastic limits in compres- mon a surrounding matrix that supports the fibre
sion greater than 0.7%, it was concluded that the against Euter buckling instabilities and at the same

58
 P Y P

~A"
L

.-I
J
I ~x
(fibres)
/

/ 1
(fibres) LI2 ~ L/2
i
I
I

z z__
<~ <~
Od rr
F--
bO ~o

0 0 I I[ NI I I i I

(a) x (b) x
Figure l Longitudinally distributed axial strains of elastic beams loaded in (a) cantilever and (b) three-point bending.

time transmits the compressive loads to the fibre. be determined from the equations of elastic beana
Compression of the fibres embedded in a matrix theory.
has previously been used to study the axial com- Filaments of Kevlar 49 (diameter = 12.2/.tm)
pression fracture of carbon fibres [13], the buckl- were separated from a 380 denier yarn. The fibres
ing modes of synthetic fibres [14, 15] and the had no sizing or finish and were used in all tests
buckling of model systems for collagen fibres [15]. without any special pretreatment.
In these prior studies fibre compression was To prepare test specimens, single Kevlar fibres
achieved by the mechanical compression of the were first aligned with ends taped to one side of a
matrix parallel to the fibre axis [13], by differen- clear polycarbonate tensile bar which had been
tial thermal shrinkage [14, 15], by matrix contrac- milled down to a uniform cross-section of 1/8" x
tion during solvent casting [2, 16] or by shrinkage 1/2". By hanging a 0.Sg weight from one end of
of a matrix polymerized around the fibres [16]. the fibre it could be affixed to the bar under a cal-
culated tensile pre-strain of 0.03%. The fibres were
3. Experimental details then bonded to the polycarbonate by applying
3.1. C o m p r e s s i o n several layers of a clear acrylic spary (Krylon |
In this work we introduce a new method for Acrylic Spray Coating, Borden, Inc.) until well
applying known and uniform compressive strains coated. After allowing 24 h for the film to dry, the
to fine filaments. The technique involves bonding bars with bonded fibres were loaded in three-point
fibres to the compressive side of an elastic bending in an Instron to a maximum strain on the
rectangular beam and orienting them parallel to beam surface of 1.0% at the load point. To mini-
the beam length. On subjecting the beam with mize stress relaxation of both the polycarbonate
bonded fibres to either three-point or cantilever bar and acrylic film, the specimens were unloaded
bending, tensile and compressive strain distribu- immediately after reaching the maximum deflec-
tions are set up which vary linearly along the tion. After a single loading the bars were removed
length of the beam as shown in Fig. 1. In this man- from the Instron and the fibres examined for kink
ner the compressive strain to kink formation can formation. The advantage of bonding fibres to a
59
 P Figure 2 Longitudinally distribu-
ted axial strains of elastic beam
loaded in four-point bending.
,v

0 f( fibres)- O
~X

II I I
I II
LI 3 "-i" LI3 "," LI3
I I I i
I i I
I i
I I
I
{-
GJ
s
.+J
U3

0
X

transparent polycarbonate bar with a clear acrylic initial gauge length of 50 mm and a crosshead rate
spray is that they can be observed directly after of 0.1 cmmin -x. Each fibre sample was loaded
loading under an optical microscope. twice. Fibres were first loaded to ~75% of the
It is recognized that the strain in the bent beam anticipated breaking strength and after immediate
also varies through the beam thickness from zero unloading, were reloaded to fracture. Samples of
at the neutral axis to a maximum on the outer sur- compressed fibres before and after tensile testing
faces. However, the relative thickness of beam to were examined in the scanning electron micro-
fibre is so large (250:1) that the variation in strain scope.
across the fibre diameter can be neglected. The effect of axial compressive fatigue on the
A matrix shirinkage technique was used to tensile strength of Kevlar fibres was investigated
obtain fibres in a compressed state for scanning using a variation of the elastic beam compression
electron microscopy (SEM) studies and tensile technique. By bonding fibres to the compressive
tests. The details of this method have been side of a beam which is then loaded in four-point
reported [1, 2]. With this method the fibres are bending, the length of fibre between the two load-
compressed by solvent casting a nylon-6 film ing points is subjected to a constant compressive
about single Kevlar 49 filaments which are held strain. This constant strain region is shown schem-
aligned under a known tensile strain (0.03%) on a atically in Fig. 2.
glass plate. Using a 10 wt % solution of nylon-6 in Single filaments of Kevlar 49 were bonded
formic acid, a film shrinkage along the fibre axis of under a known tensile pre-strain to milled tensile
2 to 3% was measured. Because the nylon film is bars as already outlined. However for these tests
easily dissolved with formic acid, fibres in the glass-filled polyphenylene oxide/polystyrene blend
compressed state could be recovered over a filter. tensile bars were used in place of polycarbonate
Compressed fibres were carefully mounted onto bars in the attempt to minimize stress-relaxation
cardboard tabs with epoxy and tensile tested at an and stress cracking of the bar during fatigue bend-

60
 \\\\\\\\\\\\ 20 mm. One end of the fibre was then clamped in
a fixed grip and the other carefully centred in a
clamp slotted disc pendulum as shown in the figure. The
sides of the cardboard tab were then cut away to

| free the fibre and disc. Two different pendulum

discs were employed having moments of intertia
(including the minor contribution from the card-
board tab) of 115 and 5 6 g m m 2. The entire
apparatus was then covered with a bell jar to
eliminate air currents.
The experiment consisted o f imposing a 180
degree twist (maximum shear strain = 0.t%) to the
free fibre end and then allowing the fibre/disc sys-
tem to rotate freely. The period of oscillation of
the resulting motion was then measured with a
stopwatch by following the motion of a reference
mark on the disc relative to a similar mark on a
fibre stationary platform mounted below the disc.
The behaviour of Kevlar 49 under large
torsional shear strains was investigated using an
apparatus similar to the one used for torsional
moduli measurements. In these experiments large
strains were imposed on the fibre sample by twist-
ing the pendulum. The elastic component of this
applied shear strain was then determined from the
amount of unwinding or recoverable strain.
The effect of pre-twisting on the subsequent
tensile strength of Kevlar 49 fibres was investi-
gated. To perform these experiments, mounted
fibres were twisted as just described and while
maintaining the twist, were placed in an Instron for
tensile testing. All samples were loaded to failure.

3.3. I n s t r u m e n t a t i o n
disc pendulum Fibre samples were examined in an ETEC Auto-
Figure 3 Schematic diagram of torsional pendulum
scan Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) after
apparatus. coating with ~ 20.0 nm thick layer of gold in a
Polaron E5100 SEM sputtering unit. For tensile
ing. Fibres were loaded in compression between a tests, all fibres were mounted on cardboard tabs
minimum strain of 0.1% and maximum strain of with epoxy and tested in an Instron Universal
0.4, 0.8 or 1.2% for 1, 10, and 100 cycles. After Testing Machine. A small Zeiss optical microscope
loading, the fibres were recovered for SEM with polarizers was used to observe fibres embed-
observations and tensile testing by soaking the bars ded in matrices.
in acetone to dissolve the acrylic film.
4. Results
3.2 Torsion 4.1. C o m p r e s s i o n
The torsion pendulum apparatus used in these A schematic diagram of a compressed Kevlar fibre
studies is similar to the one used by Gloor [17] bonded to a polycarbonate bar which had been
and is schematically illustrated in Fig. 3. Fibre previously loaded in three-point bending is shown
samples for these tests were prepared in the same in Fig. 4. Because maximum compressive strains
manner as for the tensile tests by bonding single occur at the bar midpoint (i.e. the point of load
filaments to cardboard tabs at a gauge length of application), it is the length of the fibre in this

61
 P Figure 4 Schematic diagram of
compressed Kevlar 49 fibre
bonded to beam which had pre-
bonded fibre viously been loaded in three-

1 \\f /
\
N / ~ V ~ . N ~ W t V / V \
point bending.

Cr
- - L I2 ~-i; L I2 ' "1

section of the bar which exhibits kiitk banding. when viewed Under an optical microscope. An
The bands appear fainter and less frequently at optical micrograph which shows these kink bands
distances along the fibre away from the load point. for a compressed Kevlar fibre embedded in a
At some point along the fibre length no kinks are matrix is shown in Fig. 5. It should be emphasized
observed. The distance, d, along the fibre from that the bonded fibres were eXamined after com-
load point to this region where the fibre appears pression in the unloaded state, The kink bands
free from kinks was recorded. By assuming good were seen in the fibre after unloading the bar indi-
bonding of the acrylic film to the polycarbonate cating that either slip occurred at the fibre-matrix
bar, the strain in the fibre should be equal to the interface and/or that permanent deformation
surface strain of the bar at the same point. There- occurs in the fibre at the kink boundary.
fore the strain in the fibre at a distance d from the Some of the bars were loaded more than once
load point can be readily calculated using elastic to the 1% maximum strain. After repeated load-
beam theory. This calculated strain to visible kink ings no change was observed in d and therefore
formation is defined as the critical compressive % However, in the length of fibre which was sub-
strain. jected to compressive strains greater than ee, the
To determine the' critical compressive strain for kink bands appeared to increase in both number
kink formation, ee, in Kevtar 49, it was then and severity with repeated loadings.
assumed that the polycarbonate bar and acrylic An axiai compressive strength for Kevtar 49 of
film behave elastically at least up to a maximum 0.7 GPa is calculated from the product of ee and
bending strain of 1%. Then ~he strain on the sur- the axial compressive modulus. For this calcula-
face of the beam in three-point bending varies tion it is assumed that the fibre is linear elastic to
linearly from a maximum at the load point to zero ee and that the axial tensile and compressive
at each of the supports (see Fig. 1). Therefore, moduli are identical and equal to 130GPa. That
between the load point and each of the supports, the moduli are equivalent is demonstrated
the beam strain is directly proportional to the indirectly by the nieasured equivalent tensile and
distance away from the supports. Critical fibre compressive moduli of Kevlar composites [7] and
compressive strains could then be calculated using by the elastica test in which Kevtar fibre conforms
Equation 1. to the loop geometry predicted for linearly elastic
materials [5].
ee = 1 -- em (1) The surface morphology of as-received fibres
and fibres that were compressed during solvent
where em is the maximum beam strain at toad casting of a surrounding nylon matrix is illustrated
point, L is the beam length between supports, and in Fig. 6. After a ~ 3 % compressive strain the
d is the distance from the beam centre to where fibres have apparently yielded with the formation
the last fibre kink band was observed. of helical kink bands having a pitch angle of 50 to
After subtracting the fibre tensile pre-strain, a 60 ~ (Fig. 6b). Both left- and right-handed helices
critical compressive strain of 0.53% (• 0.02%)was are observed which propagate for various distances
calculated for ten fibre samples. The compressive along the fibre axis. These helical bands corres-
fibre kink bands appear as black, V-shaped bands pond to the V-shaped bands observed for a corn-

62
 Figure 5 Optical micrograph of
compressed Kevlar 49 fibre
embedded in matrix.

pressed fibre using light microscopy. At slightly Fibres recovered from the solvent cast matrix
higher compressive strains the bands become are in a permanently compressed state in the sense
sharper and more numerous as shown in Fig. 6c. that the kink bands remain after removal of the
At this level of compression there are lateral shifts matrix-induced compression load. The tensile
of fibre segments, similar to slip bands observed in behaviour of such compressed fibres is illustrated
metals. It also appears that fibre material piles up in Fig. 7. The dramatic change in the shape of the
at the kink boundaries with no evident change in stress-strain curve from that of the as-received
the surface texture between the bands. None of Kevlar 49 fibre is seen with initial tensile loading.
the compressed fibres gave any indication of The fibre extends at a near constant and low stress
surface cracking or splitting within the limits of to approximately 2% elongation. With further
SEM resolution. Interestingly, the single Kevlar extension there is a large upturn in the curve as the
fibres could sustain compressive strains of up to apparent fibre modulus increases. After removing
3% without exhibiting the sinusoidal microbuckl- the tensile load, the fibres had attained a new un-
ing instabilities normally associated with fibre- loaded gauge length which was 2.0 +-0.5% greater
reinforced composite compressive failure [8]. than the initial 50mm gauge length. SEM micro-

63
 Figure 6 SEM micrographs of Kevlar 49 fibre;
(a) as-received; (b) after ~ 2% compression and
(c) after > 3% compression due to nylon matrix
shrinkage.

graphs of previously kinked fibres after the first compressed and as-received Kevlar fibres are sum-
tensile loading are shown in Fig. 8. These pictures marized in Table II. Surprisingly, the only effect
reveal that the kinks have unfolded, appearing of prior compressive kinking is a small loss in ten-
only as stretch marks or depressions on the fibre sile strength.
surface. The tensile fracture surface of a previously
Upon reloading the fibres to break, the compressed fibre loaded in tension to failure is
measured tensile stress-strain curve is almost in- given in Fig. 9. The topology is identical to the
distinguishable from the curve of the as-received longitudinal splitting observed for the as-received
fibre as shown in Fig. 7. The tensile properties of fibres also fractured in tension [18]. Examination

64
 Figure 6 Continued.

I 1 / I I
3.0 - / KEVLAR 49 -
/

"~O.. 2.0 - as-r'eceived f i : e ~ / _-

~ /
(.,9 -
CO / 1st l o a d i n g \ / / / /
III
rY
F-
1.0
- //
/
/
/// \ 2nd loading
-
U')

/// _

0.0 ~ l I
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
EXTENSION (mm)
Figure 7 Tensile s t r e s s - e l o n g a t i o n curve of Kevlar 49 fibre previously compressed - 3% due to matrix shrinkage.

65
Figure 8 SEM micrographs of previously kinked Kevlar 49 fibres after loading in tension to ~ 75% of break strength: (a)
mag 1000X; (b) same region at 5000• mag.

of the fibres at high magnifications gave no indica- 4.2. Torsion

tion that failure initiated from a kinked region. The torsional shear modulus, G, is determined
Further proof that the recoverable tensile from the dynamic oscillation of a torsional pendu-
properties of Kevlar fibres are relatively insensitive lum using Equation 2
to axial compression is the small measured loss in
8rrLI
tensile strengths of fibres subjected to compressive a = r4r2 (2)
fatigue using the four-point beam bending tech-
nique. The tensile strengths of these fibres are where L is the fibre gauge length, r is the fibre
listed in Table III showing that even after 100 radius, I is the moment of inertia of disc, and r is
cycles to 1.2% compressive strain there is only a the period of oscillation.
10% loss in strength. Faint helical kink bands Because G depends on the fourth power of the
were observed only on isolated fibres which had fibre radius, the diameter of each sample was
been compressed to maximum strains of 0.8% and measured at several locations along the gauge
12%. length using a laser diffraction technique [19]. A

TABLE II Effect of 2 to 3% axial compressive strain on TABLE IIl Effect of axial compressive fatigue on tensile
tensile properties of Kevlar 49 strength of Kevlar 49
Fibre Tensile Elongation Tensile Maximum Tensile strength (GPa)
history modulus at break strength compressive Number of compressive cycles
(GPa) (%) (GPa) strain (%)
1 10 100
As-received 130 2.5 3.4
Compressed* 130 2.5 3.1 0.4 3.4 3.2 3.3
2 -3% 0.8 3.1 3.2 3.1
1.2 3.4 3.4 3.0
*Taken from 2nd loading curve. Values represent average
of 8 samples tested. (As-received Kevlar 49:3.4 GPa).

66
 to the chain axis which presumably follows a helix
due to the imposed shear strain. Because splitting
coincides with the onset of permanent torsional
deformation, these splits most likely represent
shear slippage between longitudinal fibre segments.
The strain at which irrecoverable torsional
deformation and presumably longitudinal splitting
initiates is defined as the critical torsional strain.
An apparent shear strength in torsion of 180 MPa
has been calculated from the product of critical
torsional strain and torsional shear modulus.
The effect of torsion on the tensile strength of
Kevtar 49 is illustrated in Fig. 12. The shape of
this curve is very similar to the plot of recoverable
against applied torsional strain (Fig. 10). Tensile
strength begins to drop off at about 10% applied
torsional strain and continues to fall off nearly
linearly with applied strains up to 35%. It is pos-
sible that there is a correlation between longi-
tudinal splitting and tensile strength reduction
above 10% torsional strain.
The fracture surface of a tensile tested fibre
which was tested after applying a large torsional
strain is given in Fig. 13. This picture shows that
the shear deformation due to torsional splitting is
permanent and probably contributes to the forma-
Figure 9 SEM micrograph of tensile fracture surface of
Kevlar 49 fibre previously compressed ~ 3%. tion of fracture planes under tension.

5. Discussion
summary of all the torsional properties and the The measured compressive and torsional properties
axial tensile properties of Kevlar 49 is given in of Kevtar 49 fibre are compared to the fibre tensile
Table IV. The torsional shear modulus was calcula- properties in Table IV. Also, to emphasize the
ted to be 1.8 GPa, nearly two orders of magnitude large differences in mechanical properties of
less than the tensile modulus. Kevlar 49 under different stress states, fibre com-
The measurements of large torsional strain pressive and torsional properties have been normal-
recovery are plotted in Fig. 10. Up to torsional ized to corresponding tensile properties and are
strains of ~ 1 0 % Kevlar 49 behaves elastically. listed in the last two columns of Table IV.
Above 10%, the percentage of recoverable strain A critical axial compressive strain (ec) of 0.5%
falls off ahnost linearly with an applied strain of measured for Kevlar 49 using the beam bending
up to 40%. To better understand this loss of technique is comparable to strain values calculated
recoverable strain, Kevlar fibres were held fixed at at the apparent yield point in the elastica tests of
several torsional strains and examined in the SEM. Kevlar. However this value for e e was determined
Photomicrographs of representative samples are in the beam bending tests from the appearance of
presented in Fig. 11. At 2> 10% torsional strain the permanent and therefore visible kink bands in un-
fibres split longitudinally. These splits run parallel loaded fibres. Therefore the value of e e reported

TABLE IV Summary of mechanical properties of Kevlar 49 fibre

Property Tensile Compressive Torsion Tensile Tensile
Compressive Shear

Modulus (GPa) 130 130 1.8 1 70

Strain to break or yield (%) 2.5 0.5 tO 5 0.25
Strength (GPa) 3.4 0.7 0.1 8 5 17

67
 I i I I I i I i

loo[--- KEVLAR 49

80 P
Z
Ld<
_JPr
rnl-- 60-
cr
Ii1<~ 4 0 -
>Z
O0
U--
Itl~
G) 2 0 -
rr 0

0 I I I I I I I I
0 10 20 30 4O
APPLIED TORSIONAL
STRAIN, (~
Figure 10 Loss of recoverable torsional strain with applied torsional strain.

here represents an upper limit for the strain to strength of aramid composites is limited by an
kink formation. This could account for the slight apparent fibre compressive yield strength.
discrepancy between e c and the reported 0.3% Although the compressive strength of Kevlar 49
compressive yield point for unidirectional Kevlar appears poor in comparison with the strengths of
49 composites. glass and carbon fibres, it is significantly better
No sinusoidal microbuckling instabilities were than the compressive yield strengths of most poly-
observed for the nylon matrix-compressed single mers. For instance, commercial nylons exhibit
Kevlar filaments with up to 3% axial strain. This yield strengths in compression of ~0.1 GPa com-
observation implies that the microbuckling theor- pared to ~ 0.7 GPa calculated here for Kevlar 49.
ies of unidirectional composites which can satis- A small and nearly constant tensile load is re-
factorily predict the compressive strengths of com- quired to unfold the kink bands of compressed
posites based on (isotropic) glass fibres may have Kevlar 49 fibres. The draw region at this load per-
no bearing on the compressive strength of Kevlar sists until the point of extension where all the
composites. This would explain the differences compression set is eliminated, i.e. until the kinks
found by Rosen and co-workers [8] between unfold completely. Once the kimks are unfolded
measured Kevlar composite compressive strengths and the fibre segments are realigned, the initial
and the predicted strengths calculated using a fibre as-received fibre modulus can be regained. The
microbuckling theory which was modified to large difference in stiffness between kinked and
account for fibres having a low shear modulus. straightened fibres indicates that the compressive
Kevlar 49 composites exhibit deviations from buckling and kinking occurs throughout the fibre
elastic behaviour in both compression and flexure cross-section rather than on the fibre surface
at strains similar to e e [7, 9, 10]. In addition, the alone. Since there is little evidence of fibre split-
5:1 ratio of fibre tensile to compressive strength ting and loss of tensile properties after the appli-
(see Table IV) is identical to same strength ratio cation of as much as 3% compressive strain and
for the unidirectional Kevlar composites (see Table after compressive fatiguing, it seems unlikely that
1). Therefore, it can be concluded that in reason- much chain scission occurs. The Kevlar fibres
ably stiff matrices such as epoxies, the low appear to be able to accommodate axial compres-

68
f2gure 11 S E M m i c r o g r a p h s o f K e v t a r 4 9 h e l d a t several t o r s i o n a l strains. (a) 3, = 8%. (b) 3' = 15%. (c) ,,g = 2 5 % . (d)
3" = 35%.

69
 I I I I I I I

100, KEVLAR 49
I 9 9I
I--
(...9
Z 8o
W
n~
F~
W 60
Z
w
_1
tD W 40
Z
W
H-
20

O I I I I I
O 10 20 30 40
TORSIONAL STRAIN (~
Figure 12 Loss in tensile strength of Kevtar 49 with torsional strain.

sion without significant permanent structural dam- remains after unfolding. These residual bands
age. It is con-ceivable that the formation of kinks probably form defect regions which reduce the
occurs by bond bending and rotation, and by fibre compressive strength and possibly the com-
chain slippage. Such kink formation may be pressive modulus in subsequent loadings.
viewed as the buckling of microfibrils or of the The high anisotropy of mechanical behaviour
PPTA chains themselves. Also, because the kink for Kevlar 49 is illustrated by the measured 70:1
bands tend to take on a helical shape at the fibre ratio of tensile to shear moduli. Comparison of a
surface, there may be a propagation of the band similar ratio for other fibres is given in Table V.
from some nucleation or defect point. The values clearly show that Kevlar 49 is an
Although the kinks seem to form almost revers- extreme among anisotropic fibres.
ibly, SEM observations show that there is always The relatively low values of shear strength and
some permanent surface structural change which modulus measured for Kevlar 49 may account for

Figure 13 Tensile fracture surface of

Kevlar 49 held twisted at a large tor-
sional strain during [ensile testing.

70
TABLE V Ratios of tensile to shear moduli for fibres torsion is most likely a result of permanent slip-
[3] page between radial planes of H-bonded PPTA
Fibre Tensile Modulus chains [20] or microfibrils which should be weakly
Shear Modulus bonded by only van der Waals forces.
The decrease in tensile strength after applica-
Glass 2.0
Steel 2.8 tion of large torsional strain appears to be related
Wool 3.2 to the amount of irrecoverable shear strain and
Cotton 3.7 accompanying fibre splitting. However, the
Silk 3.9 recoverable and nonrecoverable components of the
Nylon 5.8 torsional strain must be separated before drawing
Viscose rayon 8.2
Flax 19.0 any conclusions on the mechanisms of tension-
Tenasco (rayon) 28.0 torsion failure. Suffice it to say that longitudinal
Kevlar 49 70.0 splitting can provide defect planes for premature
tensile fracture.

the relatively low in-plane shear modulus and 6. Conclusions

strength and interlaminar shear strength of Kevlar An apparent yielding of Kevlar 49 fibres with the
composites (see Table I). For composites having a formation of helical kink bands has been shown to
strong fibre-matrix interfacial bond, failure may occur at small axial compression strains. The
occur within the Kevlar fibre rather than in the critical fibre compressive strain and corresponding
matrix or at the interface. Therefore any analysis calculated compressive strength correlate well
of mechanical performance for Kevlar composites with the behaviour of Kevlar reinforced compo-
should consider that the fibre shear modulus and sites in compression and flexure. This sensitivity of
strength are in the range of matrix shear proper- Kevlar 49 fibres to compressive strains could pos-
ties. We wish to point out that although the sibly be exploited for strain measurements by
measured shear properties of Kevlar 49 seem poor bonding fibres to materials which subsequently
in relation to those of glass and carbon fibres, the undergo compression or shrinkage. The effect of
Kevlar shear values are greater than the values axial compression on the recoverable tensile
measured for most polymeric and natural fibres. properties of Kevlar 49 fibre was surprisingly
Values of shear moduli for several polymeric fibres small.
including the value measured in this study are The highly anisotropic nature of Kevlar 49 was
listed in Table VL demonstrated by the measurement of an
The longitudinal fibre splitting observed for extremely large ratio of tensile to shear modulus.
Kevlar 49 at large torsional strains probably initi- Therefore, analysis of Kevlar 49 composites must
ates at the fibre surface where the shear strain is a consider the significant anisotropy in mechanical
maximum. Concomitant with splitting, irrecover- properties of the Kevlar fibres themselves. The
able torsional strains are measured. Twisting to Kevtar 49 fibres were shown to be durable in
larger torsional strains causes further splitting the sense that they can sustain large compres-
which probably propagates toward the fibre centre sive and torsional strains without catastrophic
as the inner regions of the fibre reach critical shear failure. Comparison of the compressive and
strain values. As a result of further splitting, larger torsional properties with the excellent tensile
irrecoverable strains are measured. Splitting under properties of Kevlar 49 reveals a dual nature for
the mechanical properties of this fibre. On one
T A B L E V I Torsional shear moduli of fibres [ 3 ] hand, Kevlar 49 exhibits tensile properties that
include high modulus and strength, and low
Fibre Shear modulus (GPa)
elongation to brittle failure (typical of inorganic
Nylon 0.33 -0.48 reinforcing fibres) which result from a structure
Polypropylene 0.75
Polyester fibre (Terylene) 0.85 of extended and well-oriented rigid chains. How-
Viscose rayon 0.84-1.2 ever the compressive and torsional behaviour
Wool 1.3 reveal the anisotropic nature of a material that
Acrylic fibre 1.0-1.6 is laterally bonded by only weak secondary
Kevlar 49 1.8 forces.

71
Acknowledgement 9. R.E. W1LFONG and J. ZIMMERMAN, J. AppL
Potym. Sci AppL Polym. Syrup. 31 (t 977) 1.
T h e a u t h o r s w i s h t o e x t e n d sincere t h a n k s t o t h e
10, C. ZWEBEN, J. Compos. Mater. 12 (t978)422.
E. I. D u P o n t D e N e m o u r s a n d Co. for s u p p l y i n g 11. M.M. SCHOPPEE and J. SKELTON, Tex. Res. J.
Kevlar 49 y a r n a n d t h e t o t h e G e n e r a l Electric 44 (1974) 968).
Co., Plastics Division, for t h e N o r y l | a n d L e x a n | 12. J.W.S. HEARLE and B. S. WONG, J. Mater. Sci,
tensile bars used in t h e b e a m b e n d i n g e x p e r i m e n t s . 12 (1977) 2447.
13. H.M. HAWTHORNE and E. TEGHTSOONIAN,
ibid. 10 (1975) 41.
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Composites 6 (1975) 217. and accepted 26 March 1983

72