Paper number 248

INFLUENCE OF THE FIBRE/MATRIX INTERFACE ON THE LONG TERM DYNAMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS CRACKING BEHAVIOUR OF GLASS/EPOXY COMPOSITES

Virginie LIETARD, Patricia KRAWCZAK and José PABIOT

ECOLE des MINES de DOUAI, Department of Polymers & Composites Technology,
941 rue Charles Bourseul, BP 838, F-59508 DOUAI, FRANCE
http://www.ensm-douai.fr
E-mail: plastics@ensm-douai.fr Fax:+33 3 27 71 25 25

Summary

The mechanical behaviour of unidirectional glass/epoxy composite materials has been investigated in air & water, at ambient & higher temperatures under bending loading (static & dynamic) as a function of the interface quality. The results highlight the combined effects of the environment (air/water), the temperature (from 40°C to 90°C), the sustained load and the interface quality on the durability of the composite materials studied. It appears also that using the time-temperature equivalence principle in order to predict lifetimes at very long term is not so easy, because of the changes in damage mechanisms which occur within the temperature and stress ranges investigated here for the loading mode chosen.

Keywords

interface, glass fibres, polymer matrices, environmental stress cracking (ESC), creep, dynamic fatigue, durability, water.