Evaluation of the thermal and moisture aging influence in aggressive environments on the change in the of the mechanical behavior of fiberglass by a short beam bending tests based on acoustic emission technique

The work is aimed at experimental research and description of the mechanical behavior and degradation of the fibrous structural composite material strength properties during thermal and moisture aging in aggressive (operational) environments of different duration and temperatures. The object of the study was STEF structural fiberglass. STEF is a laminated fiberglass reinforced plastic obtained by hot pressing of glass fabric impregnated with a thermosetting binder based on combined epoxy and phenol-formaldehyde resins. After preliminary aging under various temperature-time conditions, fiberglass samples were tested at normal temperature for interlayer shear. To study the defect initiation and propagation during the deformation of fiberglass after preliminary aging under various temperature-time conditions and environments, the acoustic emission method is used in this work, which makes it possible to study the deformation stage structure and track the processes associated with the formation of defects in the structure of the fibrous composite. Influence of various media, such as industrial water, sea water and machine oil, at different durations (15, 30, 45 days) and temperatures (22°, 60° и 90 °С) on the processes of composite destruction and the implementation of various mechanisms damage accumulation during quasi-static interlaminar shear tests were obtained and analyzed. The paper presents the test results obtained by the acoustic emission signals processing. The data illustrating the stages of damage accumulation are presented and described, and the main mechanisms of damage to the composite structure under loading are analyzed. The results of a study of the microstructure of samples obtained using a stereomicroscope before and after thermal and moisture aging in aggressive media are described.