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Abstract

In the present article, a study on three-dimensional (3D) temperature distribution in polymer matrix composites exposed to fire is carried out. Spatial distributions of temperatures in different glass/epoxy composite laminates are extracted experimentally and are compared with 3D mathematical models. A finite difference approach is used to solve the 3D equations considering changes in the physical properties of the samples with temperature. Experiments were conducted on both unidirectional and woven laminates with different thicknesses. The results of the modeling and experiments in unidirectional laminates show that heat transfer occurs more in the longitudinal direction than in the transverse direction. Experimentally, it was observed that this behavior influences the morphology of the delamination where an elliptical delamination was observed in unidirectional laminates and a circular delamination was observed in woven laminates.

Keywords

composites thermodynamic fire experiment three-dimensional modeling

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Three-dimensional modeling and experimental validation of heat transfer in polymer matrix composites exposed to fire

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