The strain rate and temperature effects on the static and dynamic properties of S2 glass/epoxy composites

Abstract

The environmental conditions, the loads during service, the resistance of the materials against these loads and also the price/benefit ratios affect the choice of materials. S2 glass-reinforced polymer composites are among the most widely used composite structures, especially when high strength and low cost are required. Polymer matrix composite materials show ductile damage at high temperatures and brittle damage mechanism at low temperatures. Therefore, environmental temperature is a parameter that restricts the use of polymer matrix composites. In this study, mechanical characterization of S2 glass/epoxy-laminated composites was investigated at different environment temperature (− 20 °C, 0 °C, 20 °C, and 80 °C) and different strain rate (8.3 × 10–3, 8.3 × 10–4, and 8.3 × 10–5 s−1). In this context, quasi-static tensile, and compressive tests were performed. In addition, S2 glass/epoxy composites were subjected to dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) under variable temperature and load to examine their viscoelastic behavior. Another test to better characterize the composite structure of the S2 glass/epoxy material was thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Test results showed that the S2 glass/epoxy composite structure is sensitive to the variable deformation rate and variable ambient temperature.