Hygrothermal effect on high-velocity impact resistance of woven composites

The woven glass fiber reinforced composites(GFRP)subjected to high-speed impact is investigated to identify the hygrothermal aging effect on the impact resistance.Both the hygrothermal aged and unaged glass/epoxy laminates are subjected to different impact velocities,which is confirmed as a sensitive factor for the failure modes and mechanisms.The results show the hygrothermal aging effect decreases the ballistic limit by 14.9%,but the influence on ballistic performance is limited within the impact velocity closed to the ballistic limit.The failure modes and energy dissipation mechanisms are confirmed to be slightly influenced by the hygrothermal aging effect.The hygrothermal aging effect induced localization of structural deformation and degradation of mechanical properties are the main reasons for the composite undergoing the same failure modes at smaller impact velocities.Based on the energy absorption mechanisms,analytical expressions predict the ballistic limit and energy absorption to reasonable accuracy,the underestimated total energy absorption results in a relatively poor agreement between the measured and predicted energy absorption efficiency.

Long-Term Cumulative Damage Model of Historical Timber Member under Varying Hygrothermal Environment

A long-term damage cumulative model for the duration of load effect of structural timber is proposed in this paper, which is economical in analysis as well as involving long-term hygrothermal effect. Based on the Miner linear damage cumulative theory, the cumulative damage model is applied to analyze the annual hygrothermal, daily cyclic thermal and daily cyclic relative humidity＇s effect on load-duration behavior and to calculate the sum of damage in one year. The results indicate that the annual and daily hygrothermal effect should be taken into consideration when calculating the damage accumulation, in which the influence levels from large to small are annual hygrothermal, daily relative humidity and daily thermal effect, Considering both annual and daily hygrothermal variations as external loads the long-term model is determined. Its application to service-life prediction of a historic timber structure verifies the feasibility and high-efficiency of the proposed approach.

Analysis of Functionally Graded Piezoelectric Cylinders in a Hygrothermal Environment

This paper presents an analytical solution for the interaction of electric potentials,electric displacement,elastic deformations,and describes hygrothermal effect responses in hollow and solid cylinders,subjected to mechanical load and electric potential.Exact solutions for displacement,stresses and electric potentials in functionally graded piezoelectric material are determined using the infinitesimal theory.The material properties coefficients of the present cylinder are assumed to be graded in the radial direction by a power law distribution.Numerical examples display the significant of influence of material inhomogeneity.It is interesting to note that selecting a specific value of inhomogeneity parameter can optimize the piezoelectric hollow and solid cylinders responses,which will be of particular importance in modern engineering designs.