Relaxation Model of the Relations between the Elastic Modulus and Thermal Expansivity of Thermosetting Polymers and FRPs

Abstract

This research was completed in the development of studies devoted to relations between the elastic modulus (MoE) and thermal expansivity (CTe) of different materials. This study, based on experimental data, confirmed the models of the relations between MoE and CTe under normal and heating temperatures for thermosetting epoxy polymers and glass-fiber FRPs in two variants (unfilled and filled by mineral additives), after the usual glassing and prolonged thermal conditioning (thermo-relaxation). The experiment was based on dilatometric and elastic deformation testing. Two models of MoE/CTe were tested: Barker’s model and our authors relaxation model (MoE = f(CTe)), which is based on previous modelling of the non-linearity of the physical properties of polymers’ supramolecular structures. The result show that the models’ constants depend on composition; Barker’s model is applicable only to polymers with satisfying agreement degrees in the range 10–20%; our model is applicable to polymers and FRPs with satisfying agreement degrees in the range of 6–18%.