Damage Behaviour and Stress Concentration Factor of Open Hole Tensile (OHT) Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) Composites

Abstract

In many applications of composites, open-hole frequently includes for various purposes. However, further study on open-hole behaviour is still required, including on its strength and damage properties by combining experimental testing, real-time observations and calculations based on theoretical analysis and simulation model. The objective of this study is to understand the effect of an open-hole glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites on tensile (static) properties, damage behaviour through Non-destructive Testing (NDT) Thermography and stress concentration factor (SCF). This study used an open-hole rectangular of GFRP specimens that fabricated by filament winding (FW) method and resin transfer moulding (RTM) method. It is found that the RTM specimens generate ≈ 170 % higher of tensile strength and ≈ 100 % higher of tensile modulus compared to the FW specimens. Infra-red (IR) camera shown the good detection on damage behaviour based on temperature increase at elastic and failure phase. Moreover, theoretical analysis and simulation results shown the good correlation where SCF reaches more than 4 times at the edge of the hole. This study concludes that open-hole on GFRP composites affects the tensile properties and generates damage marked by temperature increase and high SCF at the edge of the hole.