Durability of wet lay-up BFRP single-lap joints subjected to freeze–thaw cycling

Abstract

Freeze–thaw (FT) cycling is one of the primary concerns for the application of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) in cold regions. Existing studies have shown different levels of degradation on the mechanical behavior of carbon FRP (CFRP) or glass FRP (GFRP) and FRP adhesively-bonded joints after FT cycling. This paper presents experimental and numerical studies on the FT durability of basalt FRP (BFRP) single-lap joints (SLJ). BFRP, epoxy resin tensile coupons and BFRP SLJ were prepared and tested before and after FT cycling. Test results indicate that the tensile properties of BFRP and BFRP SLJ are not significantly influenced by FT cycling, while considerable degradation was observed for the epoxy resin and the bond behavior of fiber-to-matrix interface. Numerical simulations were conducted to expand test parameters of the BFRP SLJ before and after FT cycling. Finally, FT durability mechanisms of both BFRP and BFRP SLJ are discussed.