Coupled hygro-mechanical finite element method on determination of the interlaminar shear modulus of glass fiber-reinforced polymer laminates in bridge decks under hygrothermal aging effects

Xu Jiang, Chengwei Luo, Xuhong Qiang*, Qilin Zhang, Henk Kolstein, Frans Bijlaard

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)
59 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

To investigate the mechanical degradation of the shear properties of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminates in bridge decks under hygrothermal aging effects, short-beam shear tests were performed following the ASTM test standard (ASTM D790-10A). Based on the coupled hygro-mechanical finite element (FE) analysis method, an inverse parameter identification approach based on short-beam shear tests was developed and then employed to determine the environment-dependent interlaminar shear modulus of GFRP laminates. Subsequently, the shear strength and modulus of dry (0% Mt/M∞), moisture unsaturated (30% Mt/M∞ and 50% Mt/M∞), and moisture saturated (100% Mt/M∞) specimens at test temperatures of both 20 °C and 40 °C were compared. One cycle of the moisture absorption-desorption process was also investigated to address how the moisture-induced residual damage degrades the shear properties of GFRP laminates. The results revealed that the shear strength and modulus of moisture-saturated GFRP laminates decreased significantly, and the elevated testing temperature (40 °C) aggravated moisture-induced mechanical degradation. Moreover, an unrecoverable loss of shear properties for the GFRP laminates enduring one cycle of the moisture absorption-desorption process was evident.

Original languageEnglish
Article number845
Number of pages18
JournalPolymers
Volume10
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2018

Keywords

  • Fiber-reinforced polymer composite
  • Finite element method
  • Hygrothermal aging effect
  • Interlaminar shear modulus
  • Mechanical degradation
  • Short-beam test
  • OA-Fund TU Delft

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