Creep rupture of a GFRP composite at elevated temperatures

A study of the tension and compression behavior of glass-fiber reinforced p olyester composite material under sustained loads and elevated temperature is presented. Time-dependent thermal deformation and failure stresses were measured at three different temperatures (T = 25, 50, and 80 degrees C). Us ing curve-fitting equations a simple empirical model was developed to predi ct the time-to-failure. The model takes into account superposition of time- temperature effects. Creep curves predicted by this model are similar to th ose reported in literature. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.