The environmental stress corrosion cracking of glass fibre-reinforced laminates and single E-glass filaments

The environmental stress corrosion cracking of epoxy/glass fibre crossply, unidirectional coupons and single E-glass filaments have been compared. At initial applied strains > 0.15% the resin does not protect the fibres as shown by their equivalent failure times. The failure occurs in the environment and planar fractures occur because of the localized stress in the load bearing plies adjacent to a transverse crack in the 90° ply of the 0°/ 90°/0° coupons. These transverse cracks result from stress corrosion of the glass/resin interface, which leads to a reduction of the transverse cracking strain. At applied strains < 0.15% fracture occurs within the unexposed half of the coupons and is thought to be caused by rapid transport of glass corrosion products where they crystallize within the coupon. This phenomenon is also responsible for the progressive transverse cracking that occurs in both the 0° and 90° plies of the unimmersed half of the crossply coupon under zero load.     

TWINTEX纤维增强塑料的应力腐蚀开裂

研究了TWINTEX纤维增强塑料在酸中的应力腐蚀,并与玻璃纤维增强塑料的应力腐蚀进行了比较.结果表明,TWINTEX纤维增强塑料具有比玻璃纤维增强塑料好得多的耐应力腐蚀性能,而且这种好的耐应力腐蚀性主要表现在长的裂纹孕育期.聚丙烯纤维良好的耐蚀性是造成长的裂纹孕育期的主要原因.外加载荷的变化对TWINTEX纤维增强塑料的应力腐蚀裂纹扩展速率的影响不如其对玻璃纤维增强塑料的应力腐蚀裂纹扩展速率的影响显著.     

碱环境下不同应力水平GFRP筋抗拉性能试验

基于ACI 440.3R-04规定的试验方法,对60 ℃碱环境下应力水平分别为0、25%和45%的玻璃纤维塑料（GFRP）筋的抗拉性能进行了试验研究。试件数量共90根,侵蚀时间分别为3.65、18、36.5、92、183天。采用SEM对腐蚀前后GFRP筋的微观形貌进行了观测,发现碱溶液造成了GFRP筋内部结构致密性的降低,且随着应力水平的增加,其降低愈发明显。在60 ℃碱溶液中侵蚀183天后,应力水平为0和25%的GFRP筋的抗拉强度分别下降了48.81%和55.56%,而弹性模量仅分别下降了5.47%和5.73%,应力水平为45%的GFRP筋则出现了断裂现象。GFRP筋的吸湿试验表明,OH^-离子在GFRP筋中的扩散过程符合Fick定律。在分析了应力水平、侵蚀时间等参数对GFRP筋抗拉性能影响的基础上,基于Fick定律提出了碱环境下带应力GFRP筋抗拉强度的退化模型。     

In situ analysis of delayed fibre failure within water-aged GFRP under static fatigue conditions

A stress corrosion model has been applied to the microscopic analysis of the delayed fibre failure processes occurring within a water-aged unidirectional glass/epoxy composite under static fatigue loading (i.e. relaxation). By means of in situ microscopic observations, the individual fibre failures within an elementary volume located on the tensile side of the flexural specimens have been quantified as a function of time under various applied strain levels. It was found that the time dependence of the in situ fibre failure processes obeyed a stress corrosion model. From the microscopic observations, it was possible to assess consistent values of the parameters characterising the in situ fibre strength distribution and the subcritical crack propagation law. A comparison with separate static fatigue experiments using unimpregnated fibre bundles demonstrated that the specific physico-chemical environment encountered by the glass fibres within the aged epoxy matrix can induce significant changes in the subcritical crack propagation rates, as compared to stress corrosion cracking data collected in humid air.     

The kinetics of corrosion of E-glass fibres in hydrochloric acid

The corrosion of glass fibres in acid solution is well known and is thought to be responsible for many instances of failure in glass reinforced plastic materials. Although it is generally accepted that cations are leached from the glass matrix into the acid solution, the precise chemical mechanism and rates of corrosion are still not fully understood. For example, it is not simply the hydrogen ion concentration of the corroding medium that affects the rate of corrosion, but in many cases the anion associated with the acid plays a major role. Anions that can form insoluble salts or complexes with cations in the glass matrix can increase the rate of leaching and hence accelerate the corrosion process. In the case of hydrochloric acid, it has been suggested that chloride anions form complexes with iron(III) ions leached from the glass and this in part increases the rate of corrosion. This paper investigates the corrosion rate of glass fibres exposed to hydrochloric acid at different concentrations and temperatures by measuring the residual strength of the fibres before and after exposure. The leaching rate of cations into solution is also measured using atomic absorption spectroscopy. As expected, increase in temperature increases the rate of corrosion and this can be modelled using a simple Arrhenius plot to determine the activation energy of the process. Strength retention and rates of leaching of individual cations are compared in an attempt to explain the mechanism of corrosion.     

The main mechanisms of stress corrosion cracking in natural gas trunk lines

Stress corrosion cracking in a pipe material presents a most critical hazard to natural gas trunk lines. The paper addresses the causes (mechanism) of crack formation and growth. Understanding of these issues will enable a proper implementation of methods for early identification, diagnostic, and prediction of this type of failure. A most comprehensive explanation of a joint influence of internal and external factors on the corrosion cracking can be provided by means of the probabilistic local electrochemical corrosion theory. It is based on the probabilistic nature of initiation of a local corrosion damage. A probabilistic approach is used to develop a concept of stress corrosion cracking. The factors responsible for the formation of local damage nuclei have been determined. The pipe manufacturing operations are shown to have a certain effect on the pipeline susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking. Modeling has been performed for the corrosion processes that may occur in a gas trunk line section subjected to a stress corrosion cracking hazard.     

The mechanics and mechanisms of fracture in stress corrosion cracking of aluminium alloys

A fracture mechanics approach to stress corrosion cracking is highlighted. The mechanisms of stress corrosion cracking is presented. Experiments on 2024 and 7075 aluminium alloys are carried out to determine their mechanical properties, microstructure and plane strain fracture toughness (K_IC). Stress corrosion cracking tests, namely, cantilever beam tests as well as wedge opening loading tests using sea water as a corrosive medium, are conducted to establish the critical stress intensity factor for stress corrosion cracking (K_ISCC) for each aluminium alloy. It is found that the K_ISCC is in the range of (1/5) to (1/6) of the plane strain fracture toughness, K_IC, depending on the alloy. The scanning electron microscopy of fracture surfaces reveals a great dependence of the cracking and/or pit severity on the applied stress intensity factor. A brief discussion on the dislocation's role in stress corrosion cracking is given.     

Stress corrosion cracking of GRP pultruded rods in acid environments

Stress corrosion cracking of GRP pultruded rods has been investigated in 0.0001 to 5.0 N hydrochloric acid environments under bending and tensile loading modes. Crack initiation takes place at exposed glass fibres in the surface of the rod, and crack propagation is planar and at right angles to the rod axis. Leaching of calcium and aluminium from the fibres takes place during the cracking process, and time-to-failure is dependent on the acid concentration, the stress level and the ease of access of the acid to the glass fibre surface. Possible mechanisms of crack propagation through the glass fibres and resin are discussed.     

Micro-mechanical theory of macroscopic stress-corrosion cracking in unidirectional GFRP

A micro-mechanical theory of macroscopic stress-corrosion cracking in a unidirectional glass fibre-reinforced polymer composite is proposed. It is based on the premise that under tensile loading, the time-dependent failure of the composite is controlled by the initiation and growth of a crack from a pre-existing inherent surface flaw in a glass fibre. A physical model is constructed and an equation is derived for the macroscopic crack growth rate as a function of the apparent crack tip stress intensity factor for mode I. Emphasis is placed on the significance of the size of inherent surface flaw and the existence of matrix crack bridging in the crack wake. There exists a threshold value of the stress intensity factor below which matrix cracking does not occur. For the limiting case, where the glass fibre is free of inherent surface flaws and matrix crack bridging is negligible, the relationship between the macroscopic crack growth rate and the apparent crack tip stress intensity factor is given by a simple power law to the power of two.     

Acoustic emission from stress corrosion cracks in aligned GRP

Acoustic emission (AE) produced by the propagation of stress corrosion cracks in an aligned glass fibre/polyester resin composite material has been recorded. Tests have been carried out over a range of crack growth rates and the variation of AE with crack velocity/applied stress intensity has been examined. The main source of AE is fibre fracture and there is a one-to-one relationship between the number of fibre fractures and the number of high-amplitude AE signals. This enables crack growth to be monitored directly from acoustic emission. The amplitude of AE signals produced by fibre failure appears to be proportional to the fracture stress of the fibres, although further analysis requires a greater understanding of the generation, transmission and detection of AE signals. This work demonstrates that stress corrosion cracking is an ideal source for the study of AE produced by fibre fracture without complications caused by interface effects, such as fibre debonding or pullout.On leave from the Technical University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.     

GFRP复合材料叶片摆振运动表面位移与层间断裂韧性响应

风机GFRP复合材料叶片摆振运动时产生的层间滑动裂纹是叶片破坏的主要诱因之一,应力强度因子K是层间断裂韧性的重要参量,也是表面裂缝安全性评估的重要指标之一。本文在试验基础上提出了由GFRP复合材料叶片表面位移推导K值的新方法,通过试验验证其理论正确性,试验与仿真对比证明了通过叶片摆振运动表面位移来研究层间断裂韧性响应的方法是可行的,为GFRP复合材料风机叶片的强度预测提供了新的思路和方法。     

Mixed mode fracture toughness of GFRP composites

Glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites are used in a wide range of applications as a structural material. They have high specific mechanical properties but are prone to delamination as a result of manufacturing defects and impact/shock loading. The ability of the structure to continue to carry load after damage and the subsequent propensity of the damage to propagate are important considerations for the design of damage tolerant composite structures. In order to accurately predict the stability of damage under load, relevant mechanical properties of the material must be accurately determined. In particular, mixed mode fracture toughness data is required in order to study the damage criticality in such structures. This paper describes an experimental study to determine Mixed Mode fracture toughness for thick glass/vinylester specimens. The test methodology used for the experiments and its difficulties will be discussed. Mixed mode fracture toughness results are presented, as are Mode I and Mode II fracture toughness results obtained via Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) and End Notch Flexure (ENF) tests, respectively.     

Failure analysis of stress corrosion cracking in aircraft bolts

This research was conducted on the failure analysis of the failed clamp bolt from a helicopter engine in the RoKAF. Through the fractography, metallography, and stress analysis of the failed part, it was found that the clamp bolt was fractured by stress corrosion cracking due to the interaction of tensile residual stress and corrosive environment. The stress corrosion crack is a phenomenon that occurs in susceptible alloys and is caused by the conjoint action of a surface tensile stress and the presence of a specific corrosive environment. Therefore, it is recommended that the material of the clamp bolt should be changed to prevent similar failures.     

Compressive damage mechanism of GFRP composites under off-axis loading: Experimental and numerical investigations

Experimental and computational studies of the microscale mechanisms of damage formation and evolution in unidirectional glass fiber reinforced polymer composites (GFRP) under axial and off-axis compressive loading are carried out. A series of compressive testing of the composites with different angles between the loading vector and fiber direction were carried out under scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in situ observation. The damage mechanisms as well as stress strain curves were obtained in the experiments. It was shown that the compressive strength of composites drastically reduces when the angle between the fiber direction and the loading vector goes from 0° to 45° (by 2.3–2.6 times), and then slightly increases (when the angle approaches 80–90°). At the low angles between the fiber and the loading vector, fiber buckling and kinking are the main mechanisms of fiber failure. With increasing the angle between the fiber and applied loading, failure of glass fibers is mainly controlled by shear cracking. For the computational analysis of the damage mechanisms, 3D multifiber unit cell models of GFRP composites and X-FEM approach to the fracture modeling were used. The computational results correspond well to the experimental observations.     

A study of the corrosion resistance of glass fibre reinforced polymers

Specific interactions between chemical environments (hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid and distilled water) and glass fibre cause stress corrosion cracking in the glass fibre surface. The etching of the glass fibre gives rise to an extraction process. Axial or spiral cracks can then be observed. These effects depend on the fibre diameter, the etching time and the chemical environment and cause a drop in tensile stresses. The glass fibre crumbles with increasing etching time.Strict etching procedures lead to definite extraction processes and crack structures in the glass fibres and will be discussed in connection with strength tests.In addition to investigations of individual elements, e.g. glass fibres, it is also possible that whole glass fibre reinforced composites are damaged during service under the influence of aggressive surrounding media. In such cases, circular or spiral-shaped cracks can also be observed preferentially in the glass fibre. The fibres can then no longer contribute to an increase in strength and the result is the untimely failure of the composite material.     

Effect of interfacial thickness and stiffness on the stress distributions in fibre reinforced cementitious composites

The different microstructure of the fibre–cement interface might result in different failure mechanisms. It is expected that improvement of strength and toughness in fibre-reinforced cementitious composites will depend on their interfacial thickness and stiffness. A three-phase model, subject to a transversely uniform tensile stress, was utilized to investigate the effect of interfacial thickness and stiffness on the stress distributions near the fibre–cement interface and the corresponding failure mechanism. The results suggest that optimum interfacial microstructure of fibre-reinforced cementitious composites can be tailored to obtain a higher strength and toughness. Optimum interfacial thickness and stiffness was evaluated for various reinforcements, including steel, carbon, glass and polypropylene fibres. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

冲击载荷下CFRP及GFRP层板断裂韧性的研究

利用Hopkinson杆加载装置, 对带有单边切口的炭纤维增强复合材料(CFRP)及玻璃纤维增强复合材料(GFRP)层板试件进行冲击拉伸加载实验。根据一维应力波理论求得作用于试件上的载荷P(t)和试件加载点的位移δ(t)。 根据试样中应力随时间的变化历史σ(t), 并基于断裂韧性测试原理, 建立了动态应力强度因子K_Ⅰ (t)响应曲线。利用柔度变化率方法确定起裂时间, 分别得到在两种加载速率下CFRP、 GFRP层板的动态断裂韧性。结果表明, 随着加载速率的提高, 这两种复合材料的断裂韧性降低。      

Pre-buckling and post-buckling failure at web-flange junction of pultruded GFRP beams

Separation at the web-flange junction is a common failure mode of pultruded glass fiber-reinforced (GFRP) beams subjected to bending. The causes of this separation appear to depend on the presence of lateral supports to prevent lateral buckling. To clarify the driving mechanisms, four-point bending experiments were carried out on pultruded GFRP girders. Lateral buckling was prevented by using lateral supports. Web-flange separation failure due to exceeding the shear strength was observed before any buckling was seen. Furthermore, nonlinear FEA was performed to identify the critical stress states of GFRP beams from the research literature, without any lateral supports in the post-buckling phase. In this case, based on numerical calculation, the critical stress states and their locations depended significantly on the shape of initial imperfections. The ultimate loads, with or without lateral supports, were predicted by a modified von Mises criterion applied to the stress states at the web-flange junction.     

Analysis of mode II interlaminar fracture and damage behavior in end notched flexure testing of GFRP woven laminates at cryogenic temperatures

Summary Interlaminar fracture and damage behavior of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) woven laminates at cryogenic temperatures is investigated for end notched flexure (ENF) pure Mode II configuration. The corrected beam theory (CBT) and finite element analysis (FEA) are used to calculate the Mode II interlaminar fracture toughness of ENF specimen at room temperature (RT), liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K) and liquid helium temperature (4 K). A FEA coupled with damage is also employed to study the damage distributions within the specimen and to examine the effect of damage on the Mode II energy release rate. The numerical results show that damage occurs at the matrix and causes a decrease in the energy release rate. The technique presented can be efficiently used for the characterization of cryogenic Mode II interlaminar fracture and damage behavior of woven laminate ENF specimens.     

Intergranular stress corrosion cracking of acoustic-filter hooks used in car

Some acoustic-filter hooks used in car fractured in service. The failure mechanism of the hooks is intergranular stress corrosion cracking. The necessary conditions (susceptible composition of the hook materials; presence of chloride in service environment; presence of residual tensile stress and occurrence of sensitization in the fracture region) caused intergranular stress corrosion mechanism. Non-qualified chemical composition of the hooks (much higher carbon content than the specified of AISI 304 stainless steel) is mainly responsible for the failure of the hooks, which is a key inherent factor.