Photoelastic investigation of stress concentrations in model glass-reinforced plastics under static load

The title investigation was carried out using a double-beam polarimeter for studying the stress patterns in "sandwich" models of glass-reinforced plastics. The same experimental technique can be adapted to a wide range of reinforced materials. A comparison of the experimental results with calculations based on the theory for quasi-homogeneous anisotropic plates shows that it is not always permissible to assume that the laminated material has a quasi-homogeneous structure.Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 4, pp. 711–718, July–August, 1969.     

Estimation of the stability of the strength of glass-reinforced plastics in conical shells

On the basis of a statistical analysis of the test data it is shown that there is a difference between the mechanical characteristics (in tension and compression) of laminated glass-reinforced plastics obtained under laboratory and industrial conditions by impregnation under pressure in a closed mold. The stability of the strength properties of the glass-reinforced plastic in various conical shells, produced in large batches, is considered. Certain experimental relations between the material properties and the total number of shells produced are also established.Moscow. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 1, pp. 102–108, January–February, 1970.     

Dynamic compressive strength of epoxy composites

The strength of laminated and unidirectionally reinforced composite materials was investigated in conditions of dynamic uniaxial compression with a strain rate of 50–1000 sec^–1 using the split Hopkinson pressure bar method. It was shown that in conditions of dynamic compression, glass/epoxy, aramid/epoxy, and carbon/epoxy composites exhibit elastic-brittle behavior with anisotropy of the strength and elastic properties. The effect of the strain rate on the strength characteristics of fiberglass-reinforced plastics was demonstrated.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 776–782, November–December, 1995.Presented at the Ninth International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, October, 1995).     

Structural theory of the tensile and compressive strengths of reinforced plastics

The strength conditions of unidirectionally and orthogonally reinforced plastics subjected to uniaxial tension and compression in the direction of, and at an angle to, the reinforcement are developed, with consideration given to possible failure of the fibers, binder, or the bond between the fibers and binder. Proposed strength conditions take into account the structure of the material, the properties of its components, and stress concentration.Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR, Riga. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 6, pp. 988–995, November–December, 1975.     

The effect of glass fiber inelasticity on the long-term strength of reinforced plastics subject to uniaxial tension along the fibers

Relationships are presented for determining the long-term strength of reinforced plastics subject to uniaxial tension by a constant load directed along the fibers; these relationships are based on the rheological characteristics of the components of the plastics. The proposed expressions agree quite well with experiment. Treatment of the experimental data by mathematical statistics showed that the relative strain at fracture remains constant; it does not depend either on the relative reinforcement content or on the applied load (i. e., on the time to fracture).Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 719–725, 1967     

Composites reinforced with a system of three straight mutually orthogonal fibers

The effectiveness of reinforcement in direction 3 has been estimated by investigating the mechanical characteristics of two types of three-dimensionally reinforced materials differing with respect to the arrangement of the reinforcement and the fiber content in each direction. The superior transverse stiffness, shear strength, and transverse tensile strength of three-dimensionally reinforced composites based on a system of three mutually orthogonal fibers, as compared with laminated materials, is demonstrated. The theoretical values of the elastic constants, calculated from the relations of [5], are compared with the experimental data.For communication 1 see [5].Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR, Riga. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 6, pp. 1011–1018, November–December, 1973.     

Creep and long-time strength of unidirectional reinforced plastics in compression

An attempt is made to predict the creep and long-time strength of unidirectional reinforced plastics in compression in the direction of the reinforcement from the properties of the components. The reinforcement is assumed to be elastic, while the resin is described by a Boltzmann-Volterraintegral equation with fractional-exponential Rabotnov kernel. Experimentally obtained creep and long-time strength curves are presented for unidirectional reinforced plastics.Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR, Riga. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 5, pp. 830–835, September–October, 1970.     

Experimental evaluation of the strength anisotropy of a unidirectionally reinforced organic fiber-reinforced plastic

Conclusions The strength of a unidirectional organic fiber-reinforced plastic has been experimentally determined in various special cases of plane stress. An analysis of the data obtained shows that it is possible to describe the strength of the material in plane stress by means of a second-order surface equation containing linear and quadratic terms. The dependence of the strength in tension and compression on the angle between the directions of loading and reinforcement has been predicted and experimentally confirmed using the values found for the components of the strength surface tensors. The results of the study can be used to estimate the strength of multilayer organic fiber-reinforced plastics in cases where a unidirectionally reinforced layer can be taken as the basic structural element of the material.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 5, pp. 799–803, September–October, 1979.     

Optimal design of reinforced-plastic chord flywheels under reliability limitations

Conclusions The proposed method makes it possible to accomplish optimal design of a CF according to the condition of providing a maximum energy-storing capacity with consideration of the random character of the strength and deformation properties of the plastic being used and the geometry of the composition of the system. In this case, the problem of optimal design reduces to a nonlinear programming problem, where the random values of the objective function and limitations are calculated on the basis of the Monte Carlo method. The requirement of fulfilling the prescribed level of reliability of the CF is the condition of optimal design, which makes it possible to take into account the variation of the load-bearing capacity of the structure, variation of the energy-storing capacity, and conditions of the planned purpose. The effect of the structural parameters was analyzed for the example of the optimal design of a FGRP CF and the interrelation and difference of the stochastic and deterministic solutions was shown. The investigations can be useful in the practice of using effective reinforced plastics in the production of mechanical energy storages.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 5, pp. 908–914, September–October, 1988.     

Design of two-way glass-reinforced plastics with high compressive strength

The conditions determining the design of two-way glass-reinforced plastics with high compressive strength are investigated. The relations between the physicomechanical and geometric parameters of the composite are obtained in the form of a system of inequalities, satisfaction of which ensures the obtaining of a high-strength material with a given utilization factor. It has been shown experimentally that these inequalities can be used as a first approximation for the optimal design of a two-way reinforced composite with high compressive strength.All-Union Scientific-Research Institute of Glass-Reinforced Plastics and Glass Fiber, Moscow. Moscow Institute of Electronic Machine Building. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 4, pp. 655–660, July–August, 1973.     

Measurement of the strength of plastics in high-speed compression

A previously developed [1] method of determining the strength of plastics in high-speed compression is extended to the temperature range –196° to +150°C. Dynamic strength data have been obtained for epoxy-polyester and polyvinyl butyral resins and glass-fabric reinforced plastics based on these resins in the indicated temperature range.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 1, No. 5, pp. 34–38, 1965     

Structural-statistical analysis of the strain properties of laminated reinforced plastics

Conclusion The structural relations derived here make it possible to analytically predict the main statistical characteristics of the strain properties of an LRP with allowance for the mutual correlation of the random parameters of the structure. Use of the proposed relations is valid for studying combination loading (bending and a plane stress state), as well as when the structure of the composite is unbalanced. We evaluated the scale effect associated with the presence of multiple layers and determined the impact of this effect on the scatter of the strain properties of the LRP for different types of deformation. We also proposed a method of determining the actual statistical characteristics of layers indirectly — on the basis of experimental testing of multilayered unidirectional plastics. One promising prospect is the use of these results to formulate and solve problems involving optimization of the structure of LRP's on the basis of criteria ensuring the composite's reliability and dimensional stability. Finally, the results can also serve as a basis for establishing scientifically substantiated safety factors for stiffness.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 6, pp. 995–1001, November–December, 1990.     

A complex approach to evaluation of the strain-strength properties in stretching of KMU-8 carbon-filled construction plastic

Conclusion The detailed study of the mechanical properties of KMU-8 CFRP in stretching characterizes it as a construction material with high anisotropy of the elastic and strength properties. The accurate determination of the properties of the monolayer allows subsequently calculating the elastic characteristics based on the theory of laminated plastics with a precision sufficient for engineering and construction calculations. The calculated strengths should be estimated with consideration of the specific features of strain and failure of the carbon-filled plastic.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 4, pp. 488–499, July–August, 1993.     

Effect of interlaminar stiffness and strength of fiber-reinforced materials in plane stress

The distortion of the strains associated with a difference in the influence coefficients of the reinforcing layers is considered. The effect of the compliance of the intermediate resin layers on the average stiffness of composites is estimated. An attempt is made to explain in these terms the experimentally established deformation characteristics of three-dimensionally reinforced materials [12, 13] and laminated plastics loaded at an angle to the direction of reinforcement [11].Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR, Riga. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 5, pp. 876–883, September–October, 1970.     

The effect of overloads on the residual strength and life of laminated GRP

The effect of a short duration cyclic overload on the residual life and strength of laminated glass-fiber reinforced polyester is studied. A uniaxial tensile fatigue loading with the stress ratio 0.1 is considered. The residual life of the composite decreases due to the overload, while the residual strength is almost unaffected. A reasonable agreement of experimental data with the prediction by a residual strength model and by Miner's rule is observed.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 35, No. 5, pp. 701–706, May–June, 1999.     

Long-term static testing machine for plain and reinforced plastics

The construction of a machine for conducting long-term static tests on plain and reinforced plastics is described. The principal parameters of the machine are given.Mekhanika Polimerov, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 564–565, 1968     

Effect of building structure on the distribution of random bending strength of multilaminate reinforced plastics

A probabilistic structural model has been constructed for predicting the bending strength distribution in multilaminate reinforced plastics. The number and random strength/elastic properties of the layers or repeating structural elements are parameters of the structure. The random properties of the repeating structural elements are characterized by the scheme and geometry of the unidirectional layers. Two failure conditions have been analyzed: multistep failure caused by successive failure of separate layers and failure caused by the failure of the weakest component. The effect of the number of layers and the instability of the strength and elastic properties on the basic statistical properties of the bending strength was analyzed numerically for typical structures and for both failure conditions. The quantitative significance of the size effect determined by the thickness of the plastic was investigated. The main theoretical results were checked experimentally for unidirectional reinforced carbon plastic under uniaxial bending. The experimental distribution agrees well with the predicted distribution.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 336–344, May–June, 1993.     

Effect of temperature on the mechanical characteristics of carbon plastics reinforced with metal mesh

The behavior of carbon plastics based on FN resin and FN plus rubber and reinforced with metal mesh is investigated over a broad range of temperatures in tension, compression, and pure bending. The presence of a rubbery component considerably reduces the strength of the plastic while improving its deformation properties.Dnepropetrovsk State University. Translated from Mekhanika Polimerov, No. 2, pp. 358–361, March–April, 1971.     

Effect of sign-variable thermocycling on the mechanical properties of carbon-fiber plastics with various layups

Conclusion An economic method for the ST of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics is proposed in this study. It is established as a result of investigations of the mechanical properties of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics with different layups, which are subjected to ST in the range to 100 cycles, that in the majority of cases, the number and duration of thermal cycles has no effect on the stiffness and strength in tension, compression, bending, and shear. The effect of number of thermal cycles was manifested only on the stiffness in tension and bending and also on the tensile, compressive, and bending strengths of the material with the obliquely reinforced structure loaded in the direction of the diagonal. It is permissible to use the dynamic method to assess variations in the stiffness of a material subjected to ST.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 66–76, January–February, 1993.     

Determination of rational structure for spherofibrous plastics

A complete set of elastic constants for various structures of triorthogonally reinforced plastics with a matrix dispersely reinforced by spherical particles has been determined on the basis of the proposed algorithm. Approximate equations are obtained for determination of all integral parameters from data on the components and structure geometry. It is established that for the reinforcement schemes investigated, the shear moduli of the composites have the lowest possible values and are calculated with a higher accuracy than the other elastic constants.A. A. Blagonravov Institute of Machine Science, Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Russian. Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 155–160, March–April, 1997.