Temperature-Dependent Dynamic Characteristics of Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Plastic for Different Spectral Loading Patterns

Abstract

The dynamic properties of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) can be efficiently estimated through a modal damping coefficient and a resonance frequency, and the modal parameters can be calculated using a frequency response function (FRF). The modal parameters used in an CFRP FRF are influenced by the carbon fiber direction, temperature, and spectral loading pattern, as well as the operating conditions. In this study, three parameters—temperature, spectral loading pattern, and carbon fiber direction—were selected as the influential factors for CFRP dynamics, and the sensitivity index formulation was derived from the parameter-dependent FRF of the CFRP structure. The derivatives of the parameter-dependent FRF over the three considered parameters were calculated from the measured modal parameters, and the dynamic sensitivity of the CFRP specimens was explored from the sensitivity index results for five different directional CFRP specimens. The acceleration response of a simple CFRP specimen was obtained via a uniaxial excitation test at temperatures ranging from −8 to 105 °C for the following two spectral loading cases: harmonic and random.