Approximation of Damage Accumulation in Fibre Reinforced Polymers

Abstract

Abstract A unified approach for the derivation of the known equations describing damage accumulation as a result of loading of fibre-reinforced polymers is proposed. The investigated materials are short glass fibre-reinforced polyoxymethylene (GF/POM) and long glass fibre-reinforced epoxyresin (GFRP). The damage structures themselves consist of the accumulation of additional internal surfaces within the entire material volume as measured by small angle scattering X-ray refractometry. On the basis of the concept for a loading percentage under creep, damage accumulations applying short-term and long-term loading are compared. It is shown that for the investigated materials our approximations by a double exponent function are more effective than the approximations according to Weibull. It is also shown how the coefficients of the double exponent cumulative function can be found.