High throughput mechanical micro-scale characterization of composites and the utilization of the results in finite element analysis

This study presents preliminary results from the micro-scale behaviour of aged glass fibre composites. The examined composite systems consist of a simple epoxy matrix and glass fibres representing E and E6CR compositions. The micro-scale properties are analysed with single fibre tensile tests and microbond tests to study the properties of the glass fibres and the fibre/matrix interphase, respectively. The ageing environments examined in the study are deionized water and 1 g/dm3 sulphuric acid at elevated temperatures. The high-throughput testing equipment enables large series of samples: a total of 220 single-fibre tensile tests and 425 microbond tests were performed for this study. Selected samples were subjected to pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis for information about the chemical structures present in the systems. The data from the microbond test was utilised in finite element analysis to analyse the effects varying material properties have on the results. This procedure revealed crucial information of the effects of aqueous environment ageing and the viability of the microbond test as an experimental characterization method in glass fibre reinforced composites.