Yasaee, MehdiMohamed, GalalHallett, Stephen R.2016-07-082016-07-082016-05-31M. Yasaee, G. Mohamed and S. R. Hallett. Interaction of Z-pins with multiple mode II delaminations in composite laminates. Experimental Mechanics, October 2016, Volume 56, Issue 8, pp1363–13720014-4851http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11340-016-0175-9https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/10110The application of Z-pinning is a subject of great interest in the field of through-thickness reinforcement (TTR) of composite laminates. To date, the majority of Z-pin characterisation work has been conducted on fracture coupons containing a single embedded delamination, which is often not representative of real failure of reinforced composite structures in service. In this investigation a test procedure to produce two independent Mode II delaminations was developed to analyse their interaction with a region of Z-pin reinforcement. Initially numerical models were used to optimise the chosen configuration. Experimental results show in detail the response of Z-pins to two independent delaminations. These results highlight the ability of the Z-pins to effectively arrest mode II delaminations at multiple levels through the sample thickness. Additionally they provide a much needed data set for validation and verification of Z-pin numerical modelling tools.enAttribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/CompositeThrough thickness reinforcementZ-pinMultiple delaminationsMode IICFRPArticle