Xu, XiaodongKiat Lo, Darren KongAdi Satriya, Ilham AkbarZheng, Liyi2025-05-082025-05-082025-06-26Xu X, Kiat Lo DK, Adi Satriya IA, Zheng L. (2025) An experimental investigation into fracture resistance of carbon fibre sheet moulding compound. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Volume 323, June 2025, Article number 1111980013-7944https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2025.111198https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/23871Carbon Fibre Sheet Moulding Compound (CF-SMC) is an attractive material due to its good formability and green credentials. However, there is a lack of reliable fracture data, posing challenges when analysing CF-SMC materials which already have built-in randomness. Fracture Resistance curves (R-curves) and their variability have not been reported before for CF-SMC materials. This knowledge gap in the literature is addressed through Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) and first End Loaded Split (ELS) tests on CF-SMC. This work also explains the toughening mechanisms in CF-SMC materials during interlaminar fracture. Under Mode I, the toughening mechanism is fibre bridging while it is crack migration for Mode II. The new R-curve data provides new insights into the interlaminar fracture behaviour of CF-SMC materials and can be used as invaluable inputs for their failure analyses.enAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/40 Engineering4016 Materials Engineering4001 Aerospace EngineeringMechanical Engineering & Transports40 EngineeringDiscontinuous reinforcementFracture toughnessR-curveMoulding compoundArticle673088111198323