Tensile and Compressive Deformation of a Short-Glass-Fiber-Reinforced Liquid Crystalline Polymer

Abstract

Results of tensile and compression tests on a short-glass-fiber-reinforced thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer are presented. The effect of strain rate on the compression stress-strain characteristics has been investigated over a wide range of strain rates e between 10-4 and 350 s'l. The low-strain-rate tests were conducted using a screw-driven universal tensile tester, while the high-strain-rate tests were carried out using the split Hopkinson pressure bar technique. The compression modulus was shown to vary with log10 (ė) in a bilinear manner. The compression modulus is insensitive to strain rate in the low-strain-rate regime (ė = 10-4 - 10-2 s-'), but it increases more rapidly with ė at higher ė. The compression strength changes linearly with log10 (ė) over the entire strain- rate range. The fracture surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy.