Experimental investigation on mechanical properties of sustainable glass fiber–reinforced thermoplastics under different climatic conditions

Abstract

It is essential to monitor how the strength of carefully prepared Elium composite materials changes under different climatic exposure conditions. For this reason, the composites produced have been carried out to three types of environmental tests that would affect components used in industry. Following these tests, tensile, compression shear, flexural, and impact tests have been performed to characterize the mechanical properties of the materials with three different fiber orientation (0°/90°, 0°/90°/45°, ±45°). At low temperatures (−40°C) and low humidity (0% relative humidity) conditions, the UTS (440 MPa), elastic modulus (7.5 GPa), and elongation at break (7%) values increase 10% in the 0°/90°/45° fiber orientation. In the 0°/90° and 45° fiber orientations, the UTS and elongation at break decrease at low temperatures by, while the elastic modulus increases. Under high-temperature (85°C) and high-humidity (50% relative humidity) conditions, UTS values increase 12% for all fiber orientations due to physical aging, while elongation at break increases decreases for the 0°/90° and ±45° fiber orientation owing to matrix softening. In terms of impact energy, all three fiber orientations decreased by nearly 10% at low temperatures and low humidity values, while they increased by 25% at high temperatures and high-humidity values.