The Characterization of Elastic Moduli and Damping Capacities of Graphite/Epoxy Composite Laminated Beams in Hygrothermal Environments

Abstract

The extensive utilization of polymeric composite materials in commercial applications has mandated that the dynamic response characteristics of these advanced materials be carefully studied under hygrothermal service conditions in order that viable design guidelines be distilled for practicing engineers. Significant progress has been made in understanding both the dynamic response characteristics of polymeric composite materials under iso-hygrothermal conditions and also their static mechanical response characteristics in hygrothermal environments. However, these two areas have generally been treated by the research community as distinct disciplines, and there is a significant void in the literature on evaluating the hygrothermoelastodynamic response of polymeric composite materials. This paper partially addresses this void by presenting a coherent combination of theoretical and experimental investigations on studying the dynamic elastic moduli and damping capacities of composite laminated beams fabricated from Hercules AS4/3501-6 prepreg and exposed to different hygrothermal conditions. The favorable cor relation between the theoretical predictions based on the generic model developed herein and the experimental response-data is anticipated to provide the basis for establishing viable design guidelines for practicing engineers in the aerospace, defense and automotive industries.