Mechanical testing can be very time-consuming and also very expensive. Thus, only as much testing as is necessary to achieve carefully defined objectives should be conducted, and it is important that it be conducted properly, the first time, so that costs are not compounded. This text offers step-by-step procedures for materials processing, specimen manufacturing and instrumentation, test methods, and data reduction methods. It provides the latest techniques and covers the experimental determination of basic elastic, strength and fracture properties of composites. It is a unified a reference to the experimental characterization of advanced composite materials.