Post-impact compressive strength of curved GFRP laminates

Low velocity impacts to fibre reinforced plastic composites cause a pattern of damage consisting in general of delamination, fibre breakage and matrix cracking. Such damage is accidental and may go unnoticed; therefore composite structures must be designed assuming impact damage exists. Previous work on flat composite laminates has resulted in a reasonable understanding of the mechanisms of compressive strength reduction. There are, however, many instances where curved laminates are used in structures where impact is likely. Furthermore, due to the mechanisms of strength reduction, it may be expected that curvature would have a significant effect on the behaviour of the laminates.The work described here consists of experimental measurement of the post-impact compressive strength of curved GFRP laminates. The laminates were of 8 plies of 0.3 mm thick pre-impregnated glass fibre/epoxy tape in a (0, ±45, 0°)_s lay-up. Each laminate was 200 mm in length by 50 mm wide with the plane of curvature normal to the length. Laminates were impacted on the convex surface of the laminate by dropping a steel mass from 1 m vertically above it.Impacted laminates were loaded in compression and the out-of-plane displacements of the top and bottom surfaces were recorded. Final failure was typically due to fibre breakage occurring through the centre of the impacted area of the laminate. Possible differences in the impact response, and measurable differences in the sizes of the impact damage area, were found to arise from these curvatures, and differences were observed in their post-impact buckling behaviour. However, perhaps unexpectedly, the post-impact compressive strength for a curved laminate was found to be similar to that for a flat laminate. The failure loads for the impact damage laminates are shown to be comparable with those for laminates containing artificial delaminations.     

The effect of thermal cycles on the mechanical properties of fiber–metal laminates

The effect of thermal-shock cycles on the mechanical properties of fiber–metal laminates (FMLs) has been evaluated. FML plates were composed by two AA2024 Al sheets (1.6 mm thick) and one composite ply formed by two layers of unidirectional glass fiber epoxy prepreg and two layers of epoxy adhesive tape of glass fiber reinforced epoxy adhesive. The set was manufactured by hand layup and typical vacuum bag technique. The curing cycle was in autoclave at 125 ± 5 °C for 90 min and an autoclave pressure of 400 kPa. FML coupons taken from the manufactured plate were submitted to temperature variations between −50 and +80 °C, with a fast transition between these temperatures. Tensile and interlaminar shear strength were evaluated on samples after 1000 and 2000 cycles, and compared to nonexposed samples. 2000 Cycles corresponds to typical C Check interval for commercial aircraft maintenance programs. It was observed that the thermal-shock cycles did not result in significant microstructural changes on the FML, particularly on the composite ply. Similarly, no appreciable effect on the mechanical properties of FML was observed by the thermal-shock cycles.     

Strengthening steel bridge sections using CFRP laminates

This paper presents results from an experimental investigation to determine the feasibility of using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) epoxy laminates to repair steel composite bridge members. Six specimens, each consisting of a 6.1 m long W8×24 wide flange A36 steel beam acting compositely with a 0.114 m thick by 0.71 m wide reinforced concrete slab, were first loaded past yield of the tension flange to simulate severe service distress. The damaged specimens were then repaired using 3.65 m lengths of 2 or 5 mm thick CFRP laminates bonded to the tension flange and tested to failure. The results indicated significant ultimate strength gains but more modest improvement in the elastic response. Non-linear finite element analyses were in good agreement with the experimental results. The study suggests that it is feasible to strengthen steel composite members using CFRP laminates.     

Development of rubberized syntactic foam

This study explored a novel hybrid syntactic foam for composite sandwich structures. A unique microstructure was designed and realized. The hybrid foam was fabricated by dispersing styrene–butadiene rubber latex coated glass microballoons into a nanoclay and milled glass fiber reinforced epoxy matrix. The manufacturing process for developing this unique microstructure was developed. A total of seven groups of beam specimens with varying compositions were prepared. Each group contained 12 identical specimens with dimensions 304.8 mm × 50.8 mm × 15.2 mm. The total number of specimens was 84. Among them, 42 beams were pure foam core specimens and the remaining 42 beams were sandwich specimens with each foam core wrapped by two layers of E-glass plain woven fabric reinforced epoxy skin. Both low velocity impact tests and four-point bending tests were conducted on the foam cores and sandwich beams. Compared with the control specimens, the test results showed that the rubberized syntactic foams were able to absorb a considerably higher amount of impact energy with an insignificant sacrifice in strength. This multi-phase material contained structures bridging over several length-scales. SEM pictures showed that several mechanisms were activated to collaboratively absorb impact energy, including microballoon crushing, interfacial debonding, matrix microcracking, and fiber pull-out; the rubber layer and the microfibers prevented the microcracks from propagating into macroscopic damage by means of rubber pinning and fiber bridge-over mechanisms. The micro-length scale damage insured that the sandwich beams retained the majority of their strength after the impact.     

Influence of drying on the mechanical behaviour of flax fibres and their unidirectional composites

The microstructure of flax fibres can be considered as a laminate with layers reinforced by cellulose fibrils. During a single fibre tensile test the S2 layer is subjected to shear. At room temperature, natural fibres contain water absorbed in the cell-walls. This paper examines the influence of this water at two scales: on the tensile behaviour of the flax fibres and on unidirectional plies of flax reinforced epoxy. Drying (24 h at 105 °C) is shown to reduce both failure stress and failure strain significantly. Analysis of normal stresses at the accomodation threshold provides an estimation of the shear strength of secondary cell walls as 45 MPa for fibres containing 6.4% by weight of water and only 9 MPa for dried fibres. Results from tensile tests on unidirectional flax/epoxy composites, reinforced by as-received and dried fibres, confirm the influence of drying on strength properties.     

New development of self-damping MWCNT composites

Epoxy resin modified with nanofillers cannot be used alone for high performance structural applications due to their low-mechanical properties. Therefore, the objective of this work is to hybridize unidirectional and quasi-isotropic glass fiber composite laminates with 1.0 wt% multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Results from flexural and damping characterizations showed that the flexural strength and modulus, storage modulus, and damping ratio of MWCNT/E nanocomposite are improved by about 7% ± 1.5% compared to neat epoxy. The enhancement in the flexural strength of quasi-isotropic laminate (20.7%) is about ten times higher than that for unidirectional laminate (2.1%). The flexural moduli of the nano-hybridized laminates are reduced by about 7.5–10.8%. Accordingly, the ultimate failure strain and damping properties are evidently improved. The improvement in damping ratio in some cases is about 100%. The high correlation coefficient (0.9995) between flexural and storage moduli suggests using the dynamic nondestructive tests for evaluation the elastic properties of composites.     

The role of delamination in strength,failure mechanism and hole size effect in open hole tensile tests on quasi-isotropic laminates

Results of several different series of open hole tension tests on quasi-isotropic IM7/8552 carbon fibre/epoxy laminates with the same stacking sequence but different ply block thicknesses and numbers of sublaminates are summarised. Specimens with single 0.125 mm thick plies failed by fibre fracture, with the strength decreasing with increasing hole size. Ones with 0.5 mm thick blocks of plies all delaminated, with the failure stress increasing with increasing hole diameter, the opposite to the usual hole size effect. Specimens with 0.25 mm thick ply blocks showed intermediate response, with small ones failing by delamination, and large ones by fibre failure, and constant strength over a range of hole sizes from 1.6 to 12.7 mm diameter. The crucial role of delamination in the strength and failure mechanism in open hole tension is examined in order to explain these results and show why conventional hole size corrections may not always be applicable.     

High temperature and fire behaviour of continuous glass fibre/polypropylene laminates

This paper reports elevated temperature mechanical property measurements on woven glass fibre/polypropylene composites. Tensile and compressive stress rupture measurements were made on 12 mm thick laminate exposed to 50 kW m^?2 heat flux. Behaviour was qualitatively similar to that of thermosetting laminates, but compressive behaviour was significantly inferior, due to a poorer resin–matrix bond, and to the loss of compressive properties at temperatures above the melting point.COM-FIRE, a finite difference implementation of the Henderson Equation, was able to model the thermal and residual resin profiles in the laminate during fire exposure. The thermal predictions were used, in conjunction with the measured mechanical property data, to model changes in elastic properties and stress rupture behaviour in fire. Because of the non-linearity of the tensile stress–strain curves, a 3-parameter model was needed to describe behaviour. In contrast the compressive response could be modelled by a simpler 2-parameter or saw-tooth model.     

Mechanical properties improvements in two-phase and three-phase composites using carbon nano-fiber dispersed resin

Static strength tests were carried out for cured carbon nano-fiber (CNF) dispersed resin as tow-phase composites and for CFRP laminates using CNF dispersed resin as three-phase composites. To obtain these CFRP laminates, the CNF dispersed resin was impregnated to CF reinforcement and cured by hot press. The CNF used was a cup-stacked type of nano-fiber, CARBERE^®, made by GSI CREOS Corporation, Japan. Two CNF aspect ratios of 10 and 50 were employed. These fiber lengths of the CNF were controlled about 1000 nm (AR10) and 5000 nm (AR50), respectively. The CNF was dispersed to EPIKOTE 827^® epoxy resin in two values of CNF weight ratios, 5 and 10% to the resin. TORAYCA^® C6343 plain woven fabric was used for reinforcement of the CFRP laminates. The cure condition with the agent of aromatic amine EPIKURE W^® was 100 °C for two hours followed by a post cure of 175 °C for 4 h. The static strength tests led to the conclusion that the dispersion of CNF into epoxy improves mechanical properties of the tow-phase composites, and that CFRP laminates with CNF dispersed resin also exhibit higher compressive strength than CFRP laminates without CNF as control. Possibilities of improvement in mechanical properties were confirmed in the two and three-phase composites. Moreover, a proportional tendency in strength improvements to CNF weight content was found in the two present composites so far in the present test results.     

Flow characteristics of carbon fibre moulding compounds

This paper presents the development of a low-cost carbon fibre moulding compound using an automated spray deposition process. Directed Fibre Compounding (DFC) is used to produce charge packs directly from low cost carbon fibre tows and liquid epoxy resin. A range of material and process related parameters have been studied to understand their influence on the level of macroscopic charge flow, in an attempt to produce a carbon fibre moulding compound with similar flow characteristics to conventional glass fibre SMCs.Charge packs covering just 40% of the mould can be effectively used to process DFC, without detrimentally affecting void content, fibre distribution and mechanical properties. Tensile stiffness and strength values of 36 GPa and 320 MPa are reported for isotropic materials (100% charge coverage), which increase to 46 GPa and 408 MPa with flow induced alignment (50% charge coverage) at 50% fibre volume fraction.     

Dielectric properties of woven fabric glass fiber reinforced polymer-matrix composites in the THz frequency range

Electromagnetic wave transmittances of plain woven fabric glass fiber reinforced epoxy matrix composite (PW-GFRP) and eight-harness-stain fabric glass fiber reinforced polyimide matrix composite (8H-GFRP) with 1.0 mm thickness were measured in a terahertz (THz) frequency range. The transmittance values for both composites are nearly zero at a frequency of 1.0 THz. The real parts of the complex dielectric constant, ε′(ω) are 4.45 and 3.87 for PW-GFRP and 8H-GFRP, respectively, in the frequency range from 0.2 to 1.0 THz, and they are almost frequency independent. Conversely, the imaginary parts of the dielectric constant, ε′′(ω) for both composites linearly increases with increase of the frequency from 0.13 to 0.37 for PW-GFRP, and from 0.12 to 0.33 for 8H-GFRP.     

Variation of strength and stiffness of fibre reinforced polymer reinforcing bars with temperature

This paper presents the results of tensile mechanical properties of FRP reinforcement bars, used as internal reinforcement in concrete structures, at elevated temperatures. Detailed experimental studies were conducted to determine the strength and stiffness properties of FRP bars at elevated temperatures. Two types of FRP bars namely: carbon fibre reinforced polyester bars of 9.5 mm diameter and glass fibre reinforced polyester bars of 9.5 mm and 12.7 mm diameter were considered. For comparison, conventional steel reinforcement bars of 10 mm and 15 mm diameter were also tested. Data from the experiments was used to illustrate the comparative variation of tensile strength and stiffness of different types of FRP reinforcing bars with traditional steel reinforcing bars. Also, results from the strength tests were used to show that temperatures of about 325 °C and 250 °C appear to be critical (in terms of strength) for GFRP and CFRP reinforcing bars, respectively. A case study is presented to illustrate the application of critical temperatures for evaluating the fire performance of FRP-reinforced concrete slabs.     

Accelerated thermal ageing of epoxy resin and 3-D carbon fiber/epoxy braided composites

This paper reports the accelerated thermal ageing behaviors of pure epoxy resin and 3-D carbon fiber/epoxy braided composites. Specimens have been aged in air at 90 °C, 110 °C, 120 °C, 130 °C and 180 °C. Microscopy observations and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectrometry analyses revealed that the epoxy resin oxidative degradation only occurred within the surface regions. The surface oxidized layer protects inner resin from further oxidation. Both the resin degradation and resin stiffening caused by post-curing effects will influence the compression behaviors. For the braided composite, the matrix ageing is the main ageing mode at temperatures lower than glass transition temperatures (T_g) of the pure epoxy resin, while the fiber/matrix interface debonding could be observed at the temperatures higher than T_g, such as the temperature of 180 °C. The combination of matrix degradation and fiber/resin interface cracking leads to the continuous reduction of compressive behaviors.     

Effect of different carbon nano-fillers on rheological properties and lap shear strength of epoxy adhesive joints

In this work, the rheological properties, thermal stability and the lap shear strength of epoxy adhesive joints reinforced with different carbon nano-fillers such as multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT), graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) and single-walled carbon nanohorns (CNH) have been studied. The nano-fillers were dispersed homogeneously using Brabender® Plasti-Corder®. The epoxy pre-polymer with and without the nano-fillers exhibited shear thinning behavior. The nano-filler epoxy mixtures exhibited a viscoplastic behavior which was analyzed using Casson’s model. Thermo-gravimetric analysis indicated an increase in the thermal stability of the epoxy with the addition of carbon nano-fillers. Carbon nano-fillers resulted in increased lap shear strength having high Weibull modulus. The joint strength increased by 53%, 49% and 46% with the addition of 1 wt.% CNT, 0.5 wt.% GNP and 0.5 wt.% CNH, respectively. The strength of the joints having high filler content (>1 wt.%) was limited by mixed mode type of failure.     

Flexural strengthening of concrete beams with EB-FRP,SRP and SRCM: Experimental investigation

Innovative composite materials for flexural strengthening of concrete structural members have been recently proposed by construction market. They are able to overcome some issues related to traditional composite material, such as high cost and fire resistance. They include composite materials made of different types of organic matrix (i.e., cement-based mortar and pozzolan-reaction cementitious mortar) and reinforcement (i.e., steel fibre fabric). An experimental investigation has been carried out on prestressed-concrete beams strengthened in flexure with traditional (i.e., pultruded carbon laminate bonded with epoxy resin) and different innovative composite externally bonded systems (i.e., steel fabrics glued with different types of adhesive) in order to compare their structural performance between them and with respect to unstrengthened specimens. At this aim, a total of fifteen specimens characterized by an overall length of 2400 mm and cross-sectional dimensions of 120 by 140 mm were subjected to four-point-bending tests. Test results highlighted the high potential of the innovative composite systems for flexural strengthening applications and similar effectiveness compared with the pultruded carbon laminates. The recorded response of the specimens is presented and discussed and the measured strength and deflection of the specimens are estimated. Comparison between theoretical prediction and experimental results shows a good agreement.     

Characterization of melded carbon fibre/epoxy laminates

‘Melding’ is a novel in situ method for joining thermosetting composite structures, without the need of adhesives. Laminate joining is achieved using uncrosslinked resin matrix of the pre-preg. This study used Hexply914C pre-preg material to characterize melded CFRP structures produced using the melding method. A designated area of a laminate was maintained at temperatures below 40 °C retaining uncured (B-staged) material, while the remainder of the laminate was cured at 175 °C. After a 2.5 h cure cycle, the cured region showed a high degree of cure (0.88) and glass transition temperature (176 °C). The uncured area of the same laminate was cured in a second stage, simulating an in situ melded joint. By controlling the temperature and duration of the intermediate dwell and affecting minimum viscosity values prior to final cure, low values of porosity (<0.5%) were achieved. The mechanical properties of the resulting joint were consistent throughout the melded laminate. Flexural strength (1600 MPa), flexural modulus (100–105 MPa) and short beam strength (105–115 MPa) values observed where equivalent or greater than those found in the recommended autoclave cured control specimens. After the entire laminate was post cured, glass transition temperatures of 230 °C (peak tan δ) were observed in all areas of the laminate.     

Thermal and mechanical behaviour of sisal/phenolic composites

This research proposes the development of polymeric composites reinforced with natural fibres to become stronger the damaged timber structures and proposes thermal and mechanical characterization of these composites. Fibres with larger structural applications are glass and carbon fibres but the use of natural fibres is an economical alternative and possesses many advantages such as biodegradability, low cost and is a renewable source. Woven sisal fabric was submitted to heat treatment before moulding and the influence of moisture content of fibres on the composites behaviour was observed. The paper presents mechanical characterization by tensile and flexural strength of woven sisal fabric composites, with and without thermal treatment (at 60 °C for 72 h) on the fabric, thermal characterization by TGA and the manufacturing process by compression moulding. Experimental results show to sisal/phenolic composites a tensile strength and a flexural strength value of 25.0 MPa and 11.0 MPa, respectively, independent to the use of sisal fibres with or without thermal treatment.     

Improved cryogenic interlaminar shear strength of glass fabric/epoxy composites by graphene oxide

The cryogenic interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) at cryogenic temperature (77 K) of glass fabric (GF)/epoxy composites is investigated as a function of the graphene oxide (GO) weight fraction from 0.05 to 0.50 wt% relative to epoxy. For the purpose of comparison, the ILSS of the GF/epoxy composites is also examined at room temperature (RT, 298 K). The results show that the cryogenic ILSS is greatly improved by about 32.1% and the RT ILSS is enhanced by about 32.7% by the GO addition at an appropriate content of 0.3 wt% relative to epoxy. In addition, the ILSS of the composite at 77 K is much higher than that at RT due to the relatively strong interfacial GF/epoxy adhesion at 77 K compared to the RT case.     

Influence of alkali treatment and fibre length on mechanical properties of short Agave fibre reinforced epoxy composites

Composites based on short Agave fibres (untreated and alkali treated) reinforced epoxy resin using three different fibre lengths (3 mm, 7 mm and 10 mm length) are prepared by using hand lay up and compression mould technique. The materials were characterized in terms of tensile, compressive, flexural, impact, water absorption properties and machinability behaviour. All mechanical tests showed that alkali treated fibre composites withstand more fracture strain than untreated fibre composites. As evidenced by the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) tests, the thermo-mechanical properties of the composite with alkali treated Agave fibre were considerably good as alkali treatment had facilitated more sites of fibre resin interface. The machinability and atomic force microscope (AFM) studies were carried out to analyze the fibre–matrix interaction in untreated and alkali treated Agave fibre–epoxy composites.     

Blast loading response of reinforced concrete panels reinforced with externally bonded GFRP laminates

The behavior of reinforced concrete panels, or slabs, retrofitted with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite, and subjected to blast load is investigated. Eight 1000 × 1000 × 70 mm panels were made of 40 MPa concrete and reinforced with top and bottom steel meshes. Five of the panels were used as control while the remaining four were retrofitted with adhesively bonded 500 mm wide GFRP laminate strips on both faces, one in each direction parallel to the panel edges. The panels were subjected to blast loads generated by the detonation of either 22.4 kg or 33.4 kg ANFO explosive charge located at a 3-m standoff. Blast wave characteristics, including incident and reflected pressures and impulses, as well as panel central deflection and strain in steel and on concrete/FRP surfaces were measured. The post-blast damage and mode of failure of each panel was observed, and those panels that were not completely damaged by the blast were subsequently statically tested to find their residual strength. It was determined that overall the GFRP retrofitted panels performed better than the companion control panels while one retrofitted panel experienced severe damage and could not be tested statically after the blast. The latter finding is consistent with previous reports which have shown that at relatively close range the blast pressure due to nominally similar charges and standoff distance can vary significantly, thus producing different levels of damage.