COMPRESSIVE RESISTANCE OF UNIDIRECTIONAL GFRP UNDER HIGH-RATE OF LOADING

In an attempt to determine composite strength at high strain rates, unidirectional glass/polyester and glass/epoxy composites have been tested using the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) apparatus at room temperature. The tested materials of the polyester-based matrix are in the range of fiber volume fraction from 0.49 to 0.67, while the epoxy composites have the fiber volume fraction of 0.61. The influence of relevant parameters, namely strain rate varying from 1/10 000 s-1 to 1000 s-1, and fiber volume fraction on the composite failure strength are investigated. The influence of specimen size and ratio of length-to-diameter on the composite strength of some polyester composite specimens with different fiber volume fraction is also examined. For compressive load acting along the fiber direction, the failure mechanism is mainly a transverse tensile failure.