Tensile behavior of glass/epoxy laminates at varying strain rates and temperatures

In the present work tensile tests at different strain rates and temperatures were performed in glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP). It is observed that such kind of composite presents an elasto-viscoplastic behavior - the rate dependency only occurs for loading levels above a given elasticity limit. Strain rate strongly affects the ultimate tensile strength (sigma(u)) and the modulus of elasticity is almost insensitive to it while temperature only influences the modulus. Analytical expressions to predict the modulus of elasticity and (sigma(u)) as a function of the temperature and strain rate are proposed and compared with experimental data showing a reasonable agreement. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.