Mechanical Responses of FRP Composites

The mechanical responses (stress, strain, displacement, and strength) of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites under elevated and high temperatures are affected significantly by their thermal exposure. On the other hand, mechanical responses have almost no influence on the thermal responses of these materials. As a result, the mechanical and thermal responses can be decoupled. This can be done by, in a first step, estimating the thermal responses (as introduced in Chapter 6) and then, based on the modeHng of temperature-dependent mechanical properties, predicting the mechanical responses of the FRP composites. 

Thermomechanical models for FRP materials were first developed in the 1980s. One of the first thermomechanical models for FRP materials was introduced by Springer in 1984 [1], where the degradation of mechanical properties was empirically related to the mass loss. In 1985, Chen et al. [2] added a mechanical model to the thermochemical model presented by Griffis et al. in 1981 [3] mechanical properties at several specified temperature points were assembled into a finite element formulation. Griffis et al. [4] introduced an updated version of Chen s model in 1986, whereby an extrapolation process was used to obtain the data in a higher temperature range. 

In 1992, McManus and Springer [5, 6] presented a thermomechanical model that considered the interaction between mechanically induced stresses and pressures created by the decomposition of gases within the pyrolysis front. Again, temperature-dependent mechanical properties were determined at several specified temperature points as stepped functions. The issue of degradation of material properties at elevated temperatures was considered in Dao and Asaro s [7] thermo-mechanical model in 1999. The degradation curves used in the model were, once again, obtained by curve fitting of limited experimental data. 

HigH Temperature Performance of Polymer Composites, First Edition. Yu Bai and Thomas Keller. 

In 2004, Gibson et al. [10] then presented an upgraded version by adding a new mechanical model. A function that assumes the relaxation intensity is normally distributed over the transition temperature was used to fit the temperature-dependent Young s modulus. Furthermore, in order to consider the resin decomposition, each mechanical property was modified by a power law factor. Predictions of mechanical responses based on the thermomechanical models were also performed by Bausano et al. [11] and Halverson et al. [12]. Mechanical properties were correlated to temperatures through dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) but no special temperature-dependent mechanical property models were developed. 

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In this book, it is intended to provide the reader with useful and comprehensive experimental data and models for the design and application of FRP composites at elevated temperatures and fire conditions. The progressive changes that occur in material states and the corresponding progressive changes in the thermophysical and thermomechanical properties of FRP composites due to thermal exposure will be discussed. It will be demonstrated how thermophysical and thermomechanical properties can be incorporated into heat transfer theory and structural theory. The thermal and mechanical responses of FRP composites and structures subjected to hours of reahstic fire conditions will be described and validated on the full-scale structural level. Concepts and methods to determine the time-to-failure of polymer composites and structures in fire will be presented, as well as the post-fire behavior and fire protection techniques. 

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