Prediction and Verification of Moisture Effects on Carbon Fiber-Epoxy Composites

摘要

Moisture has an effect on the elastic as well as on the strength properties of composites. In this work we have experimentally verified the prediction of changes in the longitudinal shear modules G sub 12 as a function of moisture uptake and temperature. The properties of the bulk resin (measured independently as a function of temperature and moisture concentration) were used for predicting the composite response by using the simple Halpin-Tsai equation of micromechanics. The excellent agreement between the predicted and observed values demonstrates the feasibility of predicting changes in 'reversible properties' of composite in a natural service environment as suggested in a previous report. This predictive scheme considered simultaneously the concepts of diffusion, environmental modeling, micromechanics, and a finite difference laminate theory. (Author)