F Madani - Ph.D. Student, School of Textile Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, ۸۴۱۵۶-۸۳۱۱۱, Iran
M Azadian - Ph.D. Student, School of Textile Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, ۸۴۱۵۶-۸۳۱۱۱, Iran
M.M Shokrieh - Professor ,Composites Research Laboratory, Center of Excellence in Experimental Solid Mechanics and Dynamics, School ofMechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Narmak, Tehran, ۱۶۸۴۶-۱۳۱۱۴, Iran
H Hasani - Associate Professor, School of Textile Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, ۸۴۱۵۶-۸۳۱۱۱, Iran

Weft knitted fabrics and their reinforced composites have good extensibility, high production efficiency, goodformability, impact resistance and low production costs. These materials have attracted increasing attentions becauseof their potential applications and advantages. This work aims to compare two kinds of fabric composites (multi-layerwoven and weft knitted); targeted at characterizing the interlaminar shear behavior. This paper, describes the resultsof three-rail shear test to the study of in-plane shear behavior of a thin glass fabric/unsaturated polyester laminatecomposites. The results shown that the shear strength of the multi-layered weft knitted composite in the coursedirection is slightly higher than that of the wale direction. However, the shear modulus is greater in the wale direction.Also, shear strengths and modulus of the multi- layer woven fabric composites are higher than those in the multi-layerweft-knitted composites. The shear stress-strain curves were obtained for all samples with similar curvature.

Weft knitted composites; three-rail shear test; shear strength; woven composites