Development of test methods for the investigation of the dependency of shear and compressive properties with strain rate for thermoset and thermoplastic polymer matrix materials
Given the trend towards lighter and thus less energy-consuming transport vehicles, continuous fibre composites are an often investigated choice to replace metals for structural load-carrying components. Although proven a worthy candidate for such a replacement in tensile structures, composite material behaviour in shear and compression poses a challenge due to, amongst others, the large variety of failure modes possibly occurring. On top of that, the behaviour of especially the polymer matrix that surrounds the fibres tends to depend on deformation speed. One of the critical load cases of transport vehicles is impact. During impact, the structure is typically mostly loaded in shear and/or compression at relatively high speed. SOLVAY, a producer and developer of polymer matrix material for composites, thus deems it essential to know how these polymers behave in these critical conditions. Currently, no standardized test method exists to generate material properties in such conditions. The objective of this INNOVIRIS project is thus to develop a test method for dynamic shear and dynamic compressive tests on polymer materials.