Patent ID: 8650975

Claim:
A test specimen for testing the through-thickness tensile strength of a fiber-reinforced composite material, the test specimen comprising: a single piece of fiber-reinforced composite material including: a first loading portion having a first longitudinal axis in a first plane and a second loading portion having a second longitudinal axis in a second plane, the first and second planes being substantially parallel, the first and second axes being substantially perpendicular; and a test gauge portion formed by the first and second loading portions being configured to partially overlap, the test gauge portion being integral with the first and second loading portions, and the test gauge portion being configured to separate the first and second loading portions in a third direction perpendicular to both the first and second longitudinal axes, wherein: the first loading portion extends beyond the test gauge portion in opposite directions along the first axis to form first end regions and the second loading portion extends beyond the test gauge portion in opposite directions along the second axis to form second end regions, and in use, a first loading member applies a first force to the first end regions in the third direction, and simultaneously a second loading member applies a second force to the second end regions in a direction opposite to the third direction, so that a tensile force results in the test gauge portion.