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Moisture absorption/desorption effects on flexural property of Glass-fiber-reinforced polyester laminates

Three-point bending test and coupled hygro-mechanical finite element analysis

Journal Article (2016)
Author(s)

X Jiang (Tongji University, TU Delft - Steel & Composite Structures)

Jie Song (Shandong Provincial Academy of Building Research)

Xuhong Qiang (Tongji University, TU Delft - Steel & Composite Structures)

M.H. Kolstein (TU Delft - Steel & Composite Structures)

Frans Bijlaard (TU Delft - Steel & Composite Structures)

Research Group
Steel & Composite Structures
Copyright
© 2016 X. Jiang, Jie Song, X. Qiang, M.H. Kolstein, F.S.K. Bijlaard
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.3390/polym8080290
More Info
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Publication Year
2016
Language
English
Copyright
© 2016 X. Jiang, Jie Song, X. Qiang, M.H. Kolstein, F.S.K. Bijlaard
Research Group
Steel & Composite Structures
Issue number
8
Volume number
8
Pages (from-to)
1-15
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Abstract

Influence of moisture absorption/desorption on the flexural properties of Glass-fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminates was experimentally investigated under hot/wet aging environments. To characterize mechanical degradation, three-point bending tests were performed following the ASTM test standard (ASTM D790-10A). The flexural properties of dry (0% Mt/M∞), moisture unsaturated (30% Mt/M∞ and 50% Mt/M∞) and moisture saturated (100% Mt/M∞) specimens at both 20 and 40 °C test temperatures were compared. One cycle of moisture absorption-desorption process was considered in this study to investigate the mechanical degradation scale and the permanent damage of GFRP laminates induced by moisture diffusion. Experimental results confirm that the combination of moisture and temperature effects sincerely deteriorates the flexural properties of GFRP laminates, on both strength and stiffness. Furthermore, the reducing percentage of flexural strength is found much larger than that of E-modulus. Unrecoverable losses of E-modulus (15.0%) and flexural strength (16.4%) for the GFRP laminates experiencing one cycle of moisture absorption/desorption process are evident at the test temperature of 40 °C, but not for the case of 20 °C test temperature. Moreover, a coupled hygro-mechanical Finite Element (FE) model was developed to characterize the mechanical behaviors of GFRP laminates at different moisture absorption/desorption stages, and the modeling method was subsequently validated with flexural test results.