INVESTIGATION OF MECHANICAL DAMPING CHARACTERISTIC IN SHORT FIBERGLASS REINFORCED POLYCARBONATE COMPOSITES

Abstract

The focus of this study is to experimentally investigate the effect of debonding stress, the interface between the fibers and the polymer matrix, on the damping properties of the short fiberglass reinforced polymer composites. In this study, short fiberglass reinforced polycarbonate composite materials were fabricated and characterized for their tensile properties by varying the fiberglass loading fraction. The debonding stress was evaluated by coupling the acoustic emission technique with the tensile testing. After the determination of the debonding stress was completed, dynamic cyclic testing was performed in order to investigate the effect of debonding on the damping properties of the polymer composites. It was experimentally observed in this study that the debonding can facilitate the stick-slip friction under cyclic loadings, which then gives rise to better damping performance in the fiberglass composites.