Authors
Abstract
The failure of polymer matrix composite upon exposure to the environment
conditions has been assessed in the present study. Glass fabrics and unsaturated
polyester resin were selected to fabricate 8-layer laminates cross ply [(0/90)8]
arranged in symmetric and antisymmetric stacking sequence. Environmental
conditioning using Sea and Tap water with humidity exposure and Ultraviolet
radiation was conducted to investigate the vibrations characteristics of symmetric
and antisymmetric composite samples. After exposure time to the conditions
above for 500, 1000 and 2000 hr, laminates were subjected to three point bending
testing, in order to study their flexural properties (stiffness and strength) before
and after these exposures. Then a finite element analysis using the package
program ANSYS (version 10) was used for the analysis of free vibration
characteristics. The object was to obtain the natural frequency for each case of
environmental conditions at different exposure times. The results showed that
natural frequencies of cantilever laminate plates decreased with the increased
exposure time for the different environmental conditions.
Keywords
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