Abstract
The objective of this study is to statistically evaluate the compressive mechanical properties of a quasi-isotropic carbon/polyimide composite, i.e., T800H/PMR-15 with a stacking sequence (45/0/-45/90)4S of 32 plies. Compression tests were conducted at room temperature using thirty smooth specimens. Mechanical properties measured are ultimate strength, failure strain, elastic modulus in addition to specimen thickness. Statistical analyses use four kinds of distribution models such as the normal, log-normal, type-I extreme-value, and two-parameter Weibull distributions. These analyses derive the estimates of central tendencies and scatter parameters, and B allowables. The modified Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit tests and graphical plotting techniques are applied to test the goodness-of-fit of each mechanical property data for the four kinds of distribution models. Correla-tion between mutual mechanical properties is examined, and a multiple regression analysis is applied to predict the ultimate strength. Moreover, a simple equation to predict the ultimate strength is derived using the product of the failure strain and elastic modulus.