CYCLIC STRESS ANALYSIS OF POLYESTER, ARAMID, POLYETHYLENE AND LIQUID CRYSTAL POLYMER YARNS

Abstract

Mooring ropes used in offshore oil platforms are exposed to a set of extreme environmental conditions that can be crucial to their behaviour in service. Considering the elevated mechanical demands on these ropes imposed by both the undersea environment and the station keeping of the vessel, this paper is focused on the experimental determination of the yarns fatigue behavior. In order to be able to foresee and compare their general wear rate, a diagram that correlates the force to which the specimens are submitted to the number of cycles for failure for each material is achieved. The analyzed fibers are Polyester, Aramid, Polyethylne and Liquid Crystal Polymer (henceforth quoted as PET, AR, PE and LCP, respectively), and this work followed a pattern composed by a fixed test frequency and an established maximum stress for the diagrams.