Advanced composites are in demand from Aerospace and other industries. Development of such composites requires determining normal stresses in fibres and shear stresses in the interface during normal loading as well as during the failure process. Experimentally, the stress distribution in fibres as small as 2-10 micrometer could be obtained using micro Raman spectroscopy, where a a laser beam is focused onto the fibre. The extent of frequency change of the scattered beam collected in the case of fibres is used to find the Raman shift; this shift varies with the stress in the fibre. Further, this stress-shift relationship may be used to find the stress in a fibre in the composite when subjected to a load. The micro tensile tester is used apply load to individual fibres as well as to the composite.

Specifications of Equipments in the lab

1. Raman In via Series spectrometer system for Raman spectral analysis integrated with free space microscope using visible excitation at 532 nm. with Laser polarization control and Polarization Analyzer kit.
2. Micro Tensile tester (136 x 83 x 37 mm, 1.9 Kg, 2kN and 650 N load cell)