Mechanical properties of woven glass fiber-reinforced polymer composites

Abstract

The mechanical properties of a woven glass fiber-reinforced polymer composite were investigated in quasi-static compression and tension tests. The composite being regarded as a transversely isotropic material, compression tests in the normal and tangent directions and tension tests in the tangent direction were conducted. The investigation indicates that the composite is an elasto-brittle material, and its compressive failure strength is significantly greater than its tensile strength. A positive strain rate effect on the compressive behavior in the normal direction was discovered. The experimental results show that failure stresses and strains of the composite in the normal direction are all significantly greater than those in the tangent direction at different strain rates. For the polymer, shear failure is the dominant failure mode in quasi-static uniaxial compressive loading. In the process of compressive loading in normal direction, the interaction strengthened gradually. The fiber with greater tensile strength contributed more to compressive strength in the normal direction than that in the tangent direction. However, in the elastic stage, the deformation was so small that the polymer played a dominant role in this process. Thus, the Young’s moduli of the composites in the two directions were similar.