Experimental Tests for Damping Measurements on Several Short Glass Fiber Composites

Abstract

Some experimental tests on the damping measurements for short glass fiber composites are presented. The short fiber samples are of three different fiber orientations: aligned longitudinally, aligned transversely and random. The tested composites have been built for a possible secondary structural use in the field of road transport. A comparison of the gathered data from the damping measurements with theoretically predicted values, gained with a classical approach, is presented. The good agreement between the experimental and theoretical values of the three types of composites shows that it is possible to broaden the application of the theoretical ap proach as used in continuous glass fiber for predicting the damping values of aligned and random short glass fibers. These results also confirm the tight connection between damping and stiffness charac teristics in glass fiber composites.