Prediction of elevated temperature, creep and damping behaviour of composite laminates from quantitative DMTA

Abstract

The Cole–Cole (C–C) and Havriliak–Negami models respectively, have been identified as suitable for the parametric modelling of time and temperature behaviour of composites with symmetrical and asymmetrical retardation time spectra. For C–C a shortcut method is proposed to enable the prediction of creep behaviour from dynamic mechanical and thermal analysis (DMTA) data. The C–C plot provides a method of characterising the retardation time distribution, independently of any time–temperature equivalence relationship. The isophthalic polyester resin and composites examined in the present study all showed symmetrical retardation time spectra (in log time) and their DMTA behaviour was well modelled using C–C, with the added assumption of Arrhenius relaxation kinetics. The proposed creep model also worked well for these materials.