A Baseline Nonlinear Material Characterization for Predicting the Long-term Durability of Composite Structures

Summary

Project Title:

Prinicipal Investigators:

Richard Schapery

Sponsor:

National Science Foundation

Completion Date:

February, 1997

Final Report:

B90 (Click to view final report abstract)

This research project is part of a multidisciplinary effort to determine the long-term durability of continuous fiber, polymer matrix composite structures exposed to ambient and elevated temperature and moisture conditions in a marine environment. The project has two main objectives: first, to determine the feasibility and a methodology for prediction the long-term behavior, and consequently the durability, of these composite systems by combined theoretical and experimental means; second, to carry out and complete a characterization on two theme materials so that other researchers can implement this information in their structural and damage analyses. This project addresses in-part both of these issues.

Related Publications: Schapery, R.A. “Nonlinear Viscoelastic Constitutive Equations for Composites Based on Work Potentials. Twelfth U.S. National Congress of Applied Mechanics, 1994, pp. S269-275.

Schapery, R.A., “Characterization of Nonlinear, Time-dependent Polymers and Polymeric Composites for Durability Analysis, Proceedings of the International Conference on Progress in Durability Analysis of Composite Systems, Brussels, July, 1995, pp. 21-38.

Schapery, R.A. and Sicking, D.L., “On Nonlinear Constitutive Equations for Elastic and Viscoelastic Composites with Growing Damage,” Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Mechanical Behavior of Materials, pp. 45-76, 1995.

Schapery, R.A., “Nonlinear Viscoelastic Constitutive Equations for Polymers and Polymeric Composites with Distributed Damage,” Proceedings of the Symposium on Inelasticity and Damage in Solids Subject to Microstructural Change, St. Johns, Newfoundland, 1997, pp. 143-153.

Schapery, R.A., “Constitutive Equations for Special Linear Viscoelastic Composites with Growing Damage,” University of Texas Report No. SSM-96-4, Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Fracture, Sydney, Australia, 3019-27, 1997.

Schapery, R.A., “Nonlinear Viscoelastic and Viscoplastic Constitutive Equations with Growing Damage,” International Journal of Fracture, 1999, pp. 33-66.