The aim of this work is to study the thickness effect in static and fatigue tests of glass-fibre unidirectional compression coupons. For this purpose, the self-heating effect, the effect of specimen geometry, and the influence of the manufacturing processes have been minimized. A
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The aim of this work is to study the thickness effect in static and fatigue tests of glass-fibre unidirectional compression coupons. For this purpose, the self-heating effect, the effect of specimen geometry, and the influence of the manufacturing processes have been minimized. A scaled thickness compression coupon has been designed with the intention of reducing the influence of geometrical differences and of the manufacturing process as the thickness is scaled. In addition the self-heating effect was controlled by tuning the test frequency. The coupon design was based on a finite element analysis. The development of the manufacturing process and the design of the gripping configuration are reported in the present work. Experimental data from static and fatigue tests are reported for 4, 10 and 20 mm thick coupons where the static allowables, elastic modulus, Poisson ratios and the R=10 S-N curves are compared in order to evaluate the thickness effect.@en
