Fatigue damage mechanism and failure prevention in fiberglass reinforced plastic

Abstract

Damaging of composite laminates was monitored during fatigue tests, revealing the formation and propagation stages for compressive, tensile, or alternate cyclic loading. Two different laminate stacking sequences, with different number of layers, were tested. The laminates consisted of E-glass fibers reinforced orthoftalic polyester resin (FGRP) shaped as mats or (bi-direction) woven fabric textile. Preliminary density, calcination tests and static compressive and tensile mechanical tests were carried out. Then, tensile (R = 0.1), compressive (R = 10) and alternate axial (R = - 1) fatigue tests were performed at different maximum stresses. Tensile cyclic loading resulted in crack formation and propagation confirming the findings reported in other studies. On the other hand, damage from alternate and compressive fatigue depicted peculiar features. Less extended damage and better fatigue resistance were observed for the laminate with symmetrically distributed layers.