Thermo-mechanical characterisation and modelling of gfrp laminated aluminium

Abstract

This paper aims to propose a thermo-mechanical model to predict and evaluate the variation of mechanical and interlaminar fracture properties at elevated temperatures. Tensile, compression, and shear tests were conducted on glass fibre reinforced polymer composite while double-cantilever beam and end notched flexural tests were conducted on GFRP laminated aluminium samples using a thermostatic chamber at 30, 70, and 110 °C. A modified property degradation model was then fitted to predict the current results and verified with the existing data. Degradation of properties is mainly attributed to the softening of epoxy, evident in Mode-I fracture toughness, shear strength, and matrix-orientated strengths. The proposed model is specifically effective in fitting elevated temperatures, but not for temperatures below room temperature. The degradation model may project data with good fit and describe the trend of properties effectively with a single fitting parameter.