Ultra-high molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) composites reinforced with Graphene Oxide (GO), Nanodiamonds (ND), and Short Carbon Fibres (SCF) are characterised for their mechanical performance in tensile and short-term creep tests. A methodology to separate and analyse the materials’ viscoelastic (VE) and viscoplastic (VP) responses is applied and evaluated. The results show a clear dependence of the performance on size scale/morphology of the reinforcements. All composites show time-dependent VP responses that can be expressed by Zapas model and fit the experimental data with high accuracy. The analysed VE strains and creep compliance curves reveal the nonlinear stress-dependent VE behaviour of all composites at all tested creep stresses. Combining multiscale reinforcements results in an improvement that surpasses that of individual reinforcements. The results of this work offer valuable input for the design and selection of polymer-based materials in demanding applications where prolonged use under service conditions is critical to their performance.

This study investigates creep and viscoelastic behavior of the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy resin and triethylenetetramine (TETA) system containing an imidazolium ionic liquid (IL), the 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (C₄MImCl). Different time-dependent analysis methods are studied using data from tensile creep, tensile creep/recovery, and three-point and four-point flexural creep tests of epoxy with 1.0 or 4.0 phr of IL. From the results, the composition containing 1.0 phr of C₄MImCl, cured at 60°C, presented greater viscoelasticity and crosslink density compared to compositions cured at 30 and 40°C, which was attributed to higher free volume and higher molecular mobility induced by the presence of the IL. In tensile creep tests using the stepped isostress method (SSM), no important degrading effects were found after the addition of 1.0 phr of IL over long time periods. This composition also showed the best overall performance in flexural SSM creep tests. 

The deformation of polymers at constant applied stress is one of their major drawbacks, limiting their use in advanced applications. The study of this property using classical techniques requires extensive testing over long periods of time. It is well known that reinforced polymers show improved behavior over time compared to their neat counterparts. In this study, the effect of adding different amounts of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) on the time‐dependent properties of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) is investigated using short‐term creep tests and load/unload recovery tests. The results are discussed in terms of the test profile and the influence of loading history. Viscoplasticity/viscoelasticity analysis is performed using Zapas model and by comparing creep, creep compliance and pure viscoelasticity curves. The results show that the reinforcement of 15 wt% GNP have the most significant effect on the time‐dependent behavior, reducing the strain by more than 50%. The creep compliance curves show that nano‐reinforced HDPE behaves nonlinearly viscoelastically even at very low stresses. In addition to demonstrating the effect of nano‐reinforcement, the discussion of the results concludes that the influence of loading history can be quite significant and should not be neglected in the design and evaluation of material behavior.

Composites formed from wood fibers and man-made cellulosic fibers in PLA (polylactic acid) matrix, manufactured using sheet forming technique and hot pressing, are studied. The composites have very low density (due to high porosity) and rather good elastic modulus and tensile strength. As expected, these properties for the four types of wood fiber composites studied here improve with increasing weight fraction of fibers, even if porosity is also increasing. On the contrary, for man-made cellulosic fiber composites with circular fiber cross-section, the increasing fiber weight fraction (accompanied by increasing void content) has detrimental effect on stiffness and strength. The differences in behavior are discussed attributing them to fiber/ fiber interaction in wood fiber composites which does not happen in man-made fiber composites, and by rather weak fiber/matrix interface for man-made fibers leading to macro-crack formation in large porosity regions.

Empirical inelastic constitutive material models for composites and testing methodology for parameter determination in these models are analyzed. Short fiber as well as long unidirectional fiber reinforced composites are analyzed in situations when the main sources of inelastic behavior are a combination of (a) nonlinear viscoelasticity; (b) nonlinear viscoplasticity; and (c) microdamage-induced reduction of thermoelastic properties, all three evolving with time and stress. These phenomena are included in a common material model. The necessary tests for model identification are tensile quasistatic loading-unloading tests and creep tests at different stress levels with recorded strain recovery after load removal. The methodology is demonstrated presenting models for (a) shear in layers of [45/−45]s laminates; (b) response of short fiber composites (SMC with glass fiber bundles; composites with natural or man-made cellulosic fibers in bio-based resins).

This paper presents an experimental study to assess the effects of food chemicals and temperature on the mechanical performance of glass fiber reinforced bio-based polyamide. The diffusion of food chemicals was mainly driven by thermal energy, following Arrhenius law in all tested environments. Degradation of mechanical properties and decrease in reliability were assessed, due to the plasticization of polymer matrix. Secondary but not negligible effect on flexural strength degradation is given by the different chemical interaction between polymeric chains and molecules of food chemicals. Colour change was measured and resulted to be positively correlated to diffusion.

Nonlinear creep behavior of one commercial short glass fiber reinforced polypropylene was investigated using tensile creep tests and stiffness degradation measurements. The impact of thermal aging and following quenching was evaluated on the latter mechanical property. Experimental results were modeled applying nonlinear viscoelastic model used by Pupure et al. (2013) and developed by Lou and Schapery [1,2]. Results showed that this model can describe nonlinear behavior of short glass fiber reinforced polymer composites, where microdamage is given by debonding of fiber-matrix interfaces already at low strains, where cracks propagate and lead to tensile creep fracture.

An electrophoretic deposition (EPD) prototype was developed aiming at the continuous production of carbon nanotube (CNT) deposited carbon fiber fabric. Such multi-scale reinforcement was used to manufacture carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. The overall objective was to improve the mechanical performance and functionalities of CFRP composites. In the current study, the design concept and practical limit of the continuous EPD prototype, as well as the flexural strength and interlaminar shear strength, were the focus. Initial mechanical tests showed that the flexural stiffness and strength of composites with the developed reinforcement were significantly reduced with respect to the composites with pristine reinforcement. However, optical microscopy study revealed that geometrical imperfections, such as waviness and misalignment, had been introduced into the reinforcement fibers and/or bundles when being pulled through the EPD bath, collected on a roll, and dried. These defects are likely to partly or completely shadow any enhancement of the mechanical properties due to the CNT deposit. In order to eliminate the effect of the discovered defects, the pristine reinforcement was subjected to the same EPD treatment, but without the addition of CNT in the EPD bath. When compared with such water-treated reinforcement, the CNT-deposited reinforcement clearly showed a positive effect on the flexural properties and interlaminar shear strength of the composites. It was also discovered that CNTs agglomerate with time under the electric field due to the change of ionic density, which is possibly due to the electrolysis of water (for carboxylated CNT aqueous suspension without surfactant) or the deposition of ionic surfactant along with CNT deposition (for non-functionalized CNT aqueous suspension with surfactant). Currently, this sets time limits for the continuous deposition.

Methodology for development of a macro-scale model (with strain as an input) for Regenerated Cellulose fiber (RCF) composites with highly non-linear (viscoelastic (VE) and viscoplastic (VP)) constituents is presented and demonstrated. The VE is described by Schapery's models and Zapas' model is used for VP. For a purely VE constituent the model can be identified from stress relaxation in constant strain tests. In the presence of VP the constant strain test does not render VE stress relaxation functions, because part of the applied strain is VP and the VE strain is changing. As an alternative creep and strain recovery tests are suggested to find the plasticity law and also the nonlinear creep compliances to identify the VE model where stress is an input. The incremental form of this model is then inverted and used to simulate the VE relaxation tests and the simulated relaxation functions are used to identify the VE model with VE strain as an input.

Models for constituents are used in micromechanics simulations of the composite behavior in arbitrary ramps including the composite VE relaxation test. Using the latter, a macro-model is developed and its validity and accuracy are demonstrated.