Abstract
Experimental investigation on E-glass/polyester chopped strand mat (CSM) composite laminates under fatigue loading has been carried out. The laminated composites were exposed to fire for different exposure times up to a maximum of 20 minutes. Monotonic tensile and fatigue tests on standard specimens taken from the fire-exposed panels have been performed in tension-tension mode using INSTRON 8504 universal testing machine at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. The effects of fire exposure on the fatigue performance of the laminates are compared with the unburnt material. The results obtained from the extensive test program show that a short fire exposure could improve the fatigue performance of the E-glass/polyester CSM composite. However, in contrary to the observation on short fire exposure time, the effect of improving fatigue response diminishes quickly with further increase in fire exposure time. Additionally, the test data obtained are used to predict the fatigue life in association with an existing fatigue life model, developed by Caprino and D'Amore.1, 8
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