Temperature Effect on Elastic, Thermomechanical and Thermal Properties of Polymer Composite Materials

Abstract

Polymer composite materials are being increasingly used in various industries. The active application of composites calls for increasing their operating temperature range. The aim of the work is to study and analyze the effect of operating temperatures on the physical and mechanical properties of polymer composite materials and to establish dependences of these properties on temperature. It is found that elastic properties decrease as temperature grows. With an increase in temperature to 473 K, the values of the elastic modulus of the binder, the shear modulus, the elastic modulus of unidirectional fiberglass in the direction transverse to the fibers, and the Poisson’s ratio decrease by almost 5 times. The shear modulus also decreases by more than 4.5 times, while the value of the modulus of elasticity along the fiber length direction remains practically unchanged in the studied temperature range. With an increase in temperature, the coefficient of linear thermal expansion of the binder and unidirectional fiberglass in the transverse direction increases almost 1.3 times, while its value along the fiber length direction decreases by no more than 10%. The values of thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the binder increase as temperature grows. The decrease in the stress level of the monolayer in the temperature range is especially noticeable in the transverse direction – it fell by 4.2 times, in the longitudinal direction it decreased by 30%. The results obtained make it possible to carry out a refined calculation of the stress-strain state of a composite structure within the operating temperature range.