Stress Rupture of PMC's in End-Loaded Bending

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This paper introduces a method to study the time dependent behavior of polymer matrix composites. An end-loaded bending method and fixture are developed to emphasize the contribution of changes in matrix properties to the behavior of fiber dominated composites loaded in the fiber direction. This method has distinct advantages over other methods such as tensile stress rupture and three- and four-point bending rupture methods. This paper discusses the design and fabrication of an end-loaded bending fixture. A brief analysis is presented which relates strain level to end-to-end distance, eliminating the need for strain gauges. Time-dependent rupture in bending of polymer matrix composites is reported.