Fire exposure, impact responses, and burst tests of glass-reinforced epoxy (GRE) composite pipes

Abstract

The paper presents the fire exposure, impact responses, and burst tests of glass-reinforced epoxy (GRE) composites pipes. Fire responses of three different fire exposure times (10 s, 20 s and 30 s) were conducted, followed by impact loadings. Three different energy levels (5 J, 7.5 J, and 10 J) were applied for impact responses and followed by monotonic burst tests. Monotonic burst tests were conducted on GRE samples using hydrostatic pressure testing equipment in accordance with ASTM D1599. The result shows that the longer the time of fire exposure towards GRE pipes, the higher the impact energy applied to the pipes, the lower the burst strength of the pipes. The maximum burst strength found decreased with an increase in the fire exposure time. The results also indicated that the strength of the GRE pipes significantly decreases with an increase in impact energy level.