This study investigates about the effect of displacement rates on the mechanical properties of advanced composites such as Glass/epoxy-GFRP, Kevlar/epoxy-KFRP and Carbon/epoxy-CFRP composites. A series of experiments were carried out to find the variation in mechanical properties in all composites due to displacement controlled tests with different displacement rates such as 0.5mm/min, 1.0 mm/min and 1.5mm/min. Strength results for CFRP, GFRP and KFRP indicates that GFRP and KFRP are displacement-rate sensitive both with respect to strength and deformation, while CFRP does not seem to be so particularly with deformations. With respect to ultimate stress at high displacement rates KFRP appears more sensitive when compared with GFRP and CFRP. These variations need to be reflected in design and analysis through statistical analysis only and the study focuses on yield point stress (at strain 0.02 and 0.04) and stiffness (at deflection 2mm and 4 mm) and how mean and standard deviation varies for different composites and with respect to the displacement rate.These will form the basis for the analytical study on progressive failure under time dependent loads.

Keywords: Displacement rate, Failure analysis, Normal distribution, Advanced composites.