Effect of strain rate on static elastic response of glass-polyester composite . part 2: analysis of experimental results

This paper is the second part of a study aimed at evaluating the influence of the strain rate of a plain weave GFRP laminate in a non-destructive static three-point bending test on the stress response of the material. It was found that the stress level during the entire course of the deflection rises with the increase in the strain rate. The relative change in the stress level is comparable for the 0/90 and 45/-45 samples. As the loading speed increases, the elastic modulus of the material also grows. For an increment in the strain rate from 1.11 center dot 10-3 to 5.57 center dot 10-1 1/s, the increase is 10% for the 0/90 samples and 17.7% for the 45/-45 samples. The dependence of the modulus on the strain rate is logarithmic. Based on the theoretical analysis, the cause of the observed effects of the strain rate on the material response was attributed to the viscoelastic behavior of fibers at the level of the laminate of the matrix (cured polymer resin) and the viscoelastic behavior of the system mesostructure.