Torsion fatigue behavior of unidirectional carbon/epoxy and glass/epoxy composites

This paper presents results of the feasibility of carbon/epoxy composites (CFRP) as a future helicopter flexbeam material. Torsional behaviors of unidirectional CFRP and glass/epoxy composites (GFRP) with the same resin matrix were investigated. The initial torsional rigidity of CFRP was almost identical to that of GFRP. The torsional rigidities calculated using finite element analyses (FEA) agreed with the experimental results: the torsional rigidities are governed mainly by the material’s shear stiffness. Torsion fatigue tests were also conducted by controlling the angle of twist of the sinusoidal wave under a constant tensile axial load. No catastrophic failure occurred with either GFRP or CFRP, although decreased amplitudes of torque and torsional rigidities were observed according to the number of cycles. Results of X-ray CT inspections and numerical calculation by FEA revealed that degradation of a torsional rigidity is caused mainly by splitting crack propagation along the fiber direction. The torsion fatigue life of CFRP was superior to that of GFRP. Consequently, results confirmed that CFRP exhibits excellent properties as a torsional element of a helicopter flexbeam in terms of torsional rigidity and tension–torsion fatigue behaviors.     

Durability study of pultruded CFRP plates immersed in water and seawater under sustained bending: Water uptake and effects on the mechanical properties

This paper presents the durability behavior of pultruded unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates immersed in water and seawater at room temperature, under sustained bending strain of 30% and 50% ultimate strain. In this study, water absorption kinetics of CFRP composite and effects of moisture ingress on the mechanical properties, such as tensile properties and short beam shear strength, constitute integral parts of the investigation. The study reveals that seawater immersion leads to higher equilibrium moisture content than water immersion, due to the blister induced damages on the CFRP plate surfaces in seawater. However, diffusion coefficient in seawater immersion is shown to be lower compared to the water immersion, and is attributed to the high concentration of dissolved salts in seawater that retard water diffusion by osmosis. Increasing the bending strain reduces the free volume fraction of the resin matrix, which is responsible for the decreased water uptake and diffusion coefficient for both immersions. Immersion in both media leads to the pronounced degradation in the resin controlled property (i.e., short beam shear strength) of CFRP, but shows less or negligible effects on the fiber controlled properties (i.e., tensile strength and modulus). Both immersion media and 50% bending strain level show remarkable effects on the variation of the mechanical properties of CFRP.     

Bending fracture rule for 3D-printed curved continuous-fiber composite

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an attractive technology to produce complex structures without the need for expensive tools and molds. Additives are usually incorporated with the plastic materials used in 3D printing to increase their strength and rigidity. In particular, carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) shows promise as a material for use in 3D printing. However, the strength of CFRP after printing is still unclear, although it is known that its strength is affected by the plastic melting during printing. In this study, we analyzed the fracture behavior of CFRP specimens before and after bending to different curvature radii. From the experimental results, a fracture criterion that described the behavior of the materials by considering tensile and compressive loads was developed. The fracture mechanism was the same for CFRP specimens with different curvature radii. These results increase our understanding of the mechanical properties of CFRP materials used in 3D printing.     

Edge Delamination and Residual Properties of Drilled Carbon Fiber Composites with and without Short-Aramid-Fiber Interleaf

Edge delamination is frequently observed in carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates after machining, due to the low fracture toughness of the resin interfaces between carbon fiber plies. In this study, the effects of incorporating tough aramid fibers into the brittle CFRP system are quantified by measuring the residual properties of bolted CFRP. By adding short-aramid-fiber interleaves in CFRP laminates, the residual tensile strength have been substantially increased by 14 % for twill-weave laminates and 45 % for unidirectional laminates respectively. Moreover, tensile failure was observed as the major mode of toughened laminates, in contrast to shear failure of plain laminates. The qualitative FEM results agreed well with the experimental results that edge delamination would cause relatively higher shear stress and therefore alter the failure mode from tensile failure to shear failure.     

Structural design and mechanical performance test of densely drilled glass fiber reinforced plastics pipelines

Densely drilled glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) pipelines are thought to be of prosperous future in sand control in oilfield. However, due to the fact that the mechanical properties of the perforated GFRP pipelines are always lowered remarkably, some structural design work must be done. Several key factors, including the winding angle of the glass fibers, the mechanical properties of the matrix resin were considered carefully in advance. The tensile strength, compressive strength and the screw-crushing properties of the GFRP pipelines were measured subsequently. Most of the test results were coincided with what had been expected during structural design. The winding angle was proved to be an important factor in improving the mechanical performance of perforated GFRP pipelines. Mechanical property of the matrix resin was another important factor in determining the performance of the GFRP pipelines. The effect of the hole-size and distribution on the mechanical performance of the heavily perforated GFRP pipelines always depended on the winding angle and matrix resin. In the screw-crushing test, the GFRP pipelines showed to be easily destroyed by the slowly rotating drill head.     

Short time tensile behavior of unidirectional glass and carbon fiber reinforced polymer laminates with curved shapes

A newly developed confining system for rectangular columns required a wrapping, which sustained a large amount of parasitic bending due to the curved shape of the laminates at the cross-section corners. To investigate the effect of parasitic bending on unidirectional carbon (CFRP) and glass fiber (GFRP) reinforced polymer laminates, 4 ply coupons were laminated with a semi-elastic hybrid resin and cured in a curved shape. During the tensile tests, the curved coupons stretched and failed after further loading. Due to the parasitic bending, occurring during stretching, the tensile resistance was reduced by 48% for the CFRP and by only 18% for the GFRP coupons. Tests with high-strength, high-modulus epoxy resin laminated GFRP coupons were drawn upon and compared with the semi-elastic hybrid resin laminated GFRP coupons. There is a beneficial effect on the tensile resistance with the use of semi-elastic hybrid resin.     

Mechanical behaviour of glass and carbon fibre reinforced composites at varying strain rates

The choice of composite materials as a substitute for metallic materials in technological applications is becoming more pronounced especially due to the great weight savings these materials offer. In many of these practical situations, the structures are prone to high impact loads. Material and structural response vary significantly under impact loading conditions as compared to quasi-static loading. The strain rate sensitivity of both carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) and glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) are studied by testing a single laminate configuration, viz. cross-ply [0°/90°] polymer matrix composites (PMC) at strain rates of 10⁻³ and 450 s⁻¹. The compressive material properties are determined by testing both laminate systems, viz. CFRP and GFRP at low to high strain rates. The laminates were fabricated from 48 layers of cross-ply carbon fibre and glass fibre epoxy. Dynamic test results were compared with static compression test carried out on specimens with the same dimensions. Preliminary compressive stress–strain vs. strain rates data obtained show that the dynamic material strength for GFRP increases with increasing strain rates. The strain to failure for both CFRP and GFRP is seen to decrease with increasing strain rate.     

恶劣环境下纤维增强聚合物片材拉伸性能

通过拉伸试验,研究了恶劣环境作用后纤维增强聚合物(FRP)片材的拉伸性能。试验参数包括恶劣环境类别和作用方式、FRP片材种类和层数。试验结果表明,常温环境下、冻融和干湿循环作用后,碳纤维增强聚合物(CFRP)片材和玻璃纤维增强聚合物(GFRP)片材的拉伸应力-应变关系近似为直线;常温环境下,CFRP片材和GFRP片材的拉伸强度和延伸率几乎不受片材层数的影响;冻融循环对GFRP片材的影响大于CFRP片材,冻融循环75次时,CFRP片材和GFRP片材的拉伸强度分别是未冻融的0.978倍和0.898倍,并且随着循环次数的增加,CFRP片材和GFRP片材拉伸强度逐渐下降;干湿循环作用对GFRP片材拉伸性能没有明显的影响。基于对有关文献及本文试验结果的分析,提出了恶劣环境下FRP片材拉伸强度的计算方法。     

Relationship between transition of fracture mode of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic and glass transition temperature of its resin

In this study, the correlation between the stress–strain behavior of a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) and the temperature at which the heat-affected zone (HAZ) is generated is investigated. First, CFRP ([?45/45]_2s laminate) specimens were heated at several temperatures to induce thermal damage, i.e. a HAZ. Subsequently, tensile tests were conducted on the specimens with thermal damage. Then, microscopy and X-ray measurements were carried out to discuss the stress–strain responses from a microscopic viewpoint. The results of strain measurement during thermal treatment indicated that the strain increases with increasing temperature. The tensile tests showed that the CFRP specimens subjected to thermal damage during heating at a high temperature fractured in the ductile mode, whereas the fracture mode of the CFRP specimens with low-temperature thermal damage was discontinuous. Microstructure observation using X-ray tomography showed that the debonding between the carbon fibers and the resin matrix induced by heating to above the glass transition temperature was responsible for the continuous fracture mode.     

Mechanical properties and failure characteristics of a recycled CFRP under tensile and cyclic loading

An examination has been made of the mechanical and failure properties of a recycled short carbon fiber reinforced plastic (rCFRP). The rCFRP samples were fabricated by the following process: the CFRP, consisting of epoxy resin with carbon fiber, is ground before mixing with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin with different weight fractions of CFRP. The tensile strength (σ_UTS) increased with increasing CFRP content, but dropped considerably for the sample with higher fiber content. From in situ measurement of localized failure in rCFRP, it appeared that material failure occurs even if a low tensile stress of 30% σ_UTS is applied. The localized damage was related to the pull-out (or debonding) of the fibers from the matrix. The fatigue strength increased with increasing the content of the recycled carbon fiber even for the samples with low tensile strength. This was attributed to the low crack driving force arising from severe crack closure. Details of the crack growth behavior were discussed using various crack growth models proposed in previous studies.     

无环氧树脂基碳纤维束自监测功能

土木工程领域所用环氧树脂基碳纤维与工业化生产的碳纤维复合材料中的碳纤维存在状态有一定的差别, 即土木工程领域的环氧树脂基碳纤维束内部部分碳纤维实际常处于无环氧树脂基状态。对无环氧树脂基的碳纤维束的力-电性能进行了系统的试验研究, 试验结果表明, 无环氧树脂基碳纤维束的电阻变化率随应变增大而线性增加。对无环氧树脂基的碳纤维束的破坏过程进行了分析, 揭示了断裂碳纤维丝与非断裂碳纤维可能存在搭接和不搭接两种状态, 在单根碳纤维丝强度服从Weibull 概率分布的基础上, 建立了能够描述上述两种状态的变结构碳纤维束的力电本构关系模型。通过计算结果与试验结果的比较, 验证了所建立模型的正确性。      

高温环境下碳纤维增强树脂复合材料的层间力学性能老化行为与失效预测

为了研究碳纤维增强树脂(CFRP)复合材料层间力学性能在高温环境中的老化失效行为,设计了CFRP复合材料层间拉伸和层间剪切实验,在高温(80℃)环境中进行0(未老化)、 120 h、 240 h、 360 h、 480 h、 600 h和720 h的老化测试,分析CFRP层间失效强度和失效形式随老化时间的变化规律,得到随高温老化的二次应力准则响应面。建立CFRP复合材料层间力学性能预测模型,得到不同老化衰减系数下的退化模型,并通过CFRP复合材料层间仿真模型进行了验证。结果表明:随着高温老化时间的增加,层间拉伸和层间剪切强度总体上都发生了一定程度的退化,层间拉伸时更容易发生碳纤维丝剥离,层间剪切发生局部的树脂剥离,纤维之间的分层更加明显,高温老化使树脂与纤维丝的界面结合力显著下降。通过CFRP复合材料层间力学性能随高温老化的二次应力准则,计算不同老化时间后的内聚力模型参数,预测CFRP复合材料在高温老化条件下的层间强度,发现仿真与实验误差小于10%,说明了CFRP复合材料层间失效预测模型的准确性。     

The tensile fatigue behaviour of a silica nanoparticle-modified glass fibre reinforced epoxy composite

An anhydride-cured thermosetting epoxy polymer was modified by incorporating 10 wt.% of well-dispersed silica nanoparticles. The stress-controlled tensile fatigue behaviour at a stress ratio of R = 0.1 was investigated for bulk specimens of the neat and the nanoparticle-modified epoxy. The addition of the silica nanoparticles increased the fatigue life by about three to four times. The neat and the nanoparticle-modified epoxy resins were used to fabricate glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP) composite laminates by resin infusion under flexible tooling (RIFT) technique. Tensile fatigue tests were performed on these composites, during which the matrix cracking and stiffness degradation was monitored. The fatigue life of the GFRP composite was increased by about three to four times due to the silica nanoparticles. Suppressed matrix cracking and reduced crack propagation rate in the nanoparticle-modified matrix were observed to contribute towards the enhanced fatigue life of the GFRP composite employing silica nanoparticle-modified epoxy matrix.     

Modeling of Nonlinear Mechanical Behavior for 3D Needled C/C-SiC Composites Under Tensile Load

This paper established a macroscopic constitutive model to describe the nonlinear stress–strain behavior of 3D needled C/C-SiC composites under tensile load. Extensive on- and off-axis tensile tests were performed to investigate the macroscopic mechanical behavior and damage characteristics of the composites. The nonlinear mechanical behavior of the material was mainly induced by matrix tensile cracking and fiber/matrix debonding. Permanent deformations and secant modulus degradation were observed in cyclic loading-unloading tests. The nonlinear stress–strain relationship of the material could be described macroscopically by plasticity deformation and stiffness degradation. In the proposed model, we employed a plasticity theory with associated plastic flow rule to describe the evolution of plastic strains. A novel damage variable was also introduced to characterize the stiffness degradation of the material. The damage evolution law was derived from the statistical distribution of material strength. Parameters of the proposed model can be determined from off-axis tensile tests. Stress–strain curves predicted by this model showed reasonable agreement with experimental results.     

Experimental and analytical investigation of reinforced high strength concrete continuous beams strengthened with fiber reinforced polymer

Carbon and glass fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP and GFRP) are two materials suitable for strengthening the reinforced concrete (RC) beams. Although many in situ RC beams are of continuous constructions, there has been very limited research on the behavior of such beams with externally applied FRP laminate. In addition, most design guidelines were developed for simply supported beams with external FRP laminates. This paper presents an experimental program conducted to study the flexural behavior and redistribution in moment of reinforced high strength concrete (RHSC) continuous beams strengthened with CFRP and GFRP sheets. Test results showed that with increasing the number of CFRP sheet layers, the ultimate strength increases, while the ductility, moment redistribution, and ultimate strain of CFRP sheet decrease. Also, by using the GFRP sheet in strengthening the continuous beam reduced loss in ductility and moment redistribution but it did not significantly increase ultimate strength of beam. The moment enhancement ratio of the strengthened continuous beams was significantly higher than the ultimate load enhancement ratio in the same beam. An analytical model for moment–curvature and load capacity are developed and used for the tested continuous beams in current and other similar studies. The stress–strain curves of concrete, steel and FRP were considered as integrity model. Stress–strain model of concrete is extended from Oztekin et al.’s model by modifying the ultimate strain. Also, new parameters of equivalent stress block are obtained for flexural calculation of RHSC beams. Good agreement between experiment and prediction values is achieved.     

Ti/CFRP超混杂复合材料残余应力研究

由于组成Ｔｉ／ＣＦＲＰ超混杂复合材料层板的炭纤维、钛合金薄板及树脂的热膨胀系数的差异,以及树脂固化过程的收缩,在层间有残余应力形成,残余应力的存在会对材料的力学性能及加工性能产生影响。因此采用应变片包埋法和非对称层板法对该Ｔｉ／ＣＦＲＰ的残余应力进行了研究,推导出计算层板残余应力的计算公式,经修正后的计算结果与测试结果基本吻合。     

Effect of moisture on elastic and viscoelastic properties of epoxy and epoxy-based carbon fibre reinforced plastic filled with multiwall carbon nanotubes

In this study, we investigated the peculiarities of moisture absorption and moisture-induced effects on the elastic and viscoelastic flexural properties of epoxy resin and carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) filled with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Short-term cyclic creep-recovery tests of moistened epoxy and CFRP filled with MWCNTs revealed improvements in creep resistance for both materials. The addition of MWCNTs to the epoxy resin suppressed the moisture absorption by the material, causing a reduction in the diffusion coefficient by 31% and equilibrium moisture content by 15%. The addition of MWCNTs reduced the flexural strength of moistened epoxy and CFRP samples by approximately half, and also lowered the flexural modulus by ∼1.4 and ∼3 times, elastic strain by 1.25 and 1.04 times, viscoelastic strain by 1.39 and 1.03 times, and plastic strain by 2.68 and 1.60 times, respectively.     

Transfer zone of prestressed CFRP reinforcement applied according to NSM technique for strengthening of RC structures

This study presents an experimental program to assess the tensile strain distribution along prestressed carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) reinforcement flexurally applied on the tensile surface of RC beams according to near surface mounted (NSM) technique. Moreover, the current study aims to propose an analytical formulation, with a design framework, for the prediction of distribution of CFRP tensile strain and bond shear stress and, additionally, the prestress transfer length. After demonstration the good predictive performance of the proposed analytical approach, parametric studies were carried out to analytically evaluate the influence of the main material properties, and CFRP and groove cross section on the distribution of the CFRP tensile strain and bond shear stress, and on the prestress transfer length. The proposed analytical approach can also predict the evolution of the prestress transfer length during the curing time of the adhesive by considering the variation of its elasticity modulus during this period.     

Behavior of full-scale reinforced concrete beams retrofitted for shear and flexural with FRP laminates

Four full-scale reinforced concrete beams were replicated from an existing bridge. The original beams were substantially deficient in shear strength, particularly for projected increase of traffic loads. Of the four replicate beams, one served as a control and the remaining three were implemented with varying configurations of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) and glass FRP (GFRP) composites to simulate the retrofit of the existing structure. CFRP unidirectional sheets were placed to increase flexural capacity and GFRP unidirectional sheets were utilized to mitigate shear failure. Four-point bending tests were conducted. Load, deflection and strain data were collected. Fiber optic gauges were utilized in high flexural and shear regions and conventional resistive gauges were placed in eighteen locations to provide behavioral understanding of the composite material strengthening. Fiber optic readings were compared to conventional gauges.Results from this study show that the use of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) composites for structural strengthening provides significant static capacity increases approximately 150% when compared to unstrengthened sections. Load at first crack and post cracking stiffness of all beams was increased primarily due to flexural CFRP. Test results suggest that beams retrofit with both the designed GFRP and CFRP should well exceed the static demand of 658 kN m sustaining up to 868 kN m applied moment. The addition of GFRP alone for shear was sufficient to offset the lack of steel stirrups and allow conventional RC beam failure by yielding of the tension steel. This allowed ultimate deflections to be 200% higher than the pre-existing shear deficient beam. If bridge beams were retrofit with only the designed CFRP failure would still result from diagonal tension cracks, albeit at a 31% greater load. Beams retrofit with only the designed shear GFRP would fail in flexure at the mid-span at an equivalent 31% gain over the control specimen, failing mechanism in this case being yielding of the tension steel. Successful monitoring of strain using fiber optics was achieved. However, careful planning tempered by engineering judgement is necessary as the location and gauge length of the fiber optic gauge will determine the usefulness of the collected data.     

Cryogenic through-thickness tensile characterization of plain woven glass/epoxy composite laminates using cross specimens: Experimental test and finite element analysis

This paper investigates the through-thickness tensile behavior of woven glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite laminates at cryogenic temperatures. Tensile tests were carried out with cross specimens at room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K), and the through-thickness elastic and strength properties of the woven GFRP laminates were evaluated. The failure characteristics of the woven GFRP laminates were also studied by optical and laser scanning microscopy observations. A three-dimensional finite element analysis was performed to calculate the stress distributions in the cross specimens, and the failure conditions of the specimens were examined. It is found that the cross specimen is suitable for the cryogenic through-thickness tensile characterization of laminated composite materials. In addition, the through-thickness Young's modulus of the woven GFRP composite laminates is dominated by the properties of the matrix polymer in the given temperature, while the tensile strength is characterized by both, the fiber to matrix interface energy and the cohesion energy of the matrix polymer.