Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol.47, No.6, 780-788, 2007
An experimental study of uniaxial fatigue behavior of an epoxy resin by a new noncontact real-time strain measurement and control system
Uniaxial fatigue behavior of an epoxy resin was investigated with a recently established non-contact real-time strain measurement and control system. A relation of strain amplitude vs. fatigue life for fully-reversed strain-range-controlled uniaxial fatigue tests was obtained. Quantitative analyses of evolutions of various mechanical properties (including stress range, elastic modulus, nonlinear stress-strain relation, dissipated strain energy density, etc.) during entire fatigue life period were carried out based on recorded stress-strain data. From the evolution of the stress-strain hysteresis loops, a gradual degradation of modulus and a decrease of nonlinear effect in stress-strain response were observed. It was also found that these two phenomena were independent of the loading control mode (stress-control or strain-range-control) and the mean stress/strain values in the cyclic loading. Fractographic analysis was also performed and the mechanism of crack initiation and propagation of the epoxy material under cyclic loading was investigated.