Humidity effects on the fatigue of fiber reinforced polymers in micro/nano functional systems
Micro and nano functional systems like MEMS and smart systems are exposed to complex and very challenging service conditions (e.g., within airframe structures or in automotive applications under the hood or within battery cells). Therefore, long-term reliability and structural integrity of the chassis and the printed wiring boards is of rising concern. These parts are often made of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP). Recently, a new methodology for accelerated fatigue testing of FRP has been presented. It allows predictions of the structural fatigue lifetime of FRP for arbitrary temperatures and loading ratios based on three simple tests: visco-elastic DMA, constant strain rate tests, and high cycle fatigue tests at a limited number of temperatures and strain rates. However, this methodology considers dry samples only, which does not suffice for describing the behavior of micro/nano systems as mentioned before. The paper reports the approach to the expansion of this testing methodology to the effects of humidity. Choosing PCB material as typical example for FRP in micro/nano systems, the time / temperature shift functions have been determined for wet and dry samples. Subsequently, constant strain rate and high cycle fatigue tests have been performed. They show a substantial loss in strength and fatigue lifetime for FRP structures that were exposed humid environment. Determining the quantities measuring this reduction in structural reliability paves the way to the expansion of the fatigue testing methodology towards accounting for the humidity effect as well.
Prediction of tensile fatigue life under temperature environment for unidirectional CFRP
A method for prediction of fatigue strength under temperature environment was proposed for polymer composites and its validity was confirmed for the flexural fatigue strength of satin-woven CFRP laminates and others. This method is based upon the four hypotheses: (A) same failure process under constant strain-rate (CSR), creep, and fatigue loadings, (B) same time-temperature superposition principle for all failure strengths, (C) linear cumulative damage law for a nondecreasing stress process, and (D) linear dependence of fatigue strength upon stress ratio. Data are provided for tensile CSR, creep, and fatigue tests at various loading rates, frequencies, and temperatures in the longitudinal direction of unidirectional CFRP. In this paper, experimental verification of the prediction method is discussed for the tensile fatigue strength of unidirectional CFRP.
Stress dependence of the coefficient of moisture diffusion in composite materials
A model for the effect of external loading on diffusion into the bulk resin matrix of unidirectional composite materials is proposed. The model attributes the effect to a change in the free volume of the resin matrix, which is equal to its volume strain. The latter is calculated by substracting the volume strain of the fibers from that of the composite. The ratio of the diffusion coefficients in the stressed and unstressed states is expressed as a function of the stress level, the volume fraction of the fibers, and the angle between the applied stress and the fiber direction. Calculations for a glass-fiber-reinforced epoxy composites are presented.