Thermo-viscoplastic Modeling of Composites Exposed to Fire or High Temperature

Abstract

This article presents a study on composites exposed to elevated temperatures associated with fire. A thermo-viscoplastic model is proposed for description of the rate-dependent and temperature-dependent behavior of composites at elevated temperatures. AS4/PEEK and E-glass/vinylester composites are chosen to examine the proposed model. Thermo-viscoplastic parameters of the proposed model were determined for each material using experimental data. Off-axis angle tests were performed with various strain rates at various temperatures for E-glass/vinylester woven composite, while experimental data available from literatures were used for AS4/PEEK unidirectional composite. Comparison of the results from the proposed model with experimental data shows good agreement. Also, a few interesting points observed during this study, such as the material behavior near the glass transition temperature, the failure mechanism, and the effect of charring are discussed.

Keywords

thermo-viscoplastic model fire off-axis angle test AS4/PEEK E-glass/vinylester glass transition temperature

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