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Fatigue Life Prediction of Pultruded


E-glass/Polyurethane Composites

Article in Journal of Composite Materials · May 2006


DOI: 10.1177/0021998305055549

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Fatigue Life Prediction of Pultruded
E-glass/Polyurethane Composites

PIZHONG QIAO* AND MIJIA YANG


Advanced Materials and Structures Research Group
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Akron
Akron, OH 44325-3905, USA

(Received January 24, 2004)


(Accepted March 21, 2005)

ABSTRACT: In this article, the tension–tension fatigue behavior of newly devel-


oped pultruded E-glass/polyurethane composites is characterized, and an improved
model for fatigue life prediction including the effects of stress ratio, frequency, and
mean stress as the testing parameters is proposed. The proposed non-dimensional
analysis is in good agreement with the predictions of existing available fatigue data
and present testing data. The model is consistent with the Goodman line relationship
and has a clear physical meaning. The fatigue test data of E-glass/polyurethane
composites are analyzed using the proposed model, and they are compared
with other common E-glass fiber-reinforced plastic composites. It indicates that
the E-glass/polyurethane composites are more fatigue sensitive but comparable to
other fiber-reinforced plastic composites in their fatigue behaviors. The effects of
stress ratio, frequency, and mean stress on fatigue life of E-glass/polyurethane
composites are studied and discussed. The corresponding S–N curve and its bounds
based on 95% confidence are provided for the pultruded E-glass/polyurethane
composites. The present fatigue model can be used as a useful tool to characterize
the effects of various parameters on the fatigue behavior of fiber-reinforced plastic
composites, and it provides the fatigue life prediction for newly developed pultruded
E-glass/polyurethane composites.

KEY WORDS: polymer matrix composites, fatigue, stress ratio, frequency,


S–N curve, fiber reinforced plastic, generic fatigue model.

INTRODUCTION

LASTICS-BASED COMPOSITES HAVE been increasingly used in bridges, piers, retaining


P walls, and storage structures exposed to salts and chemicals. Fiber-reinforced plastic
(FRP) composites have advantageous properties, such as high strength-to-weight ratio,
noncorrosiveness, and high energy absorption properties. Recent application and develop-
ment of polyurethane resins in pultruded FRP products and technologies provide enhanced

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Qiao@uakron.edu

Journal of COMPOSITE MATERIALS, Vol. 40, No. 9/2006 815


0021-9983/06/09 0815–23 $10.00/0 DOI: 10.1177/0021998305055549
ß 2006 SAGE Publications
816 P. QIAO AND M. YANG

toughness and improved impact characteristics, compared to the historic pultruded


products manufactured using relatively brittle resins (e.g., polyester and vinyl ester).
However, the use of E-glass/polyurethane composites in structural applications may
be hampered due to the lack of adequate data representing their short-term as well as
long-term behaviors under various loading and environmental conditions.
Fatigue strength of FRP composites is an important factor in the design of structures
frequently subjected to random or constant cyclic loadings. The fatigue characteristics
of common FRP composites with epoxy, polyester, vinylester, or polycarbonate as matrix
materials are available in the literature [1]; there is no data available for fatigue behavior
of newly developed pultruded E-glass/polyurethane composites. Therefore, a need exists
to investigate the behaviors of E-glass/polyurethane composites under cyclic loading and
develop fatigue life design diagrams for such advanced FRP products.
The characterization of fatigue behavior is a relatively complicated process, particularly
for composite materials. Several studies in the literature addressed the characterization
and modeling of fatigue process. Manson [2] and Coffin [3] studied the fatigue behavior
of metallic materials, and they concluded that the strain range in the low cycle region
controlled the fatigue life. James et al. [4] investigated the dependence of stress and strain
range on fatigue life of composite materials. Agarwal and James [5] studied the effect
of stress ratio R on the fatigue of composites, and it was shown that the stress ratio had
a strong influence on the fatigue life of composites and the micro matrix cracks were
observed prior to gross failure of composites under both static and cyclic loading.
Abd-Allah et al. [6] studied the effect of fiber volume fraction on the fatigue life of
composites, and they concluded that the fatigue strength was proportional to the fiber
volume fraction. Mandell et al. [7] conducted the study on the effect of matrix and fiber
on the fatigue life of a composite, and they concluded that more ductile resin systems
provided better structural integrity in terms of fatigue process and strength. Sun and
Chan [8] discussed the influence of frequency on fatigue behavior of laminated composites,
and their study showed that the fatigue life of composites was extended by the increased
load frequency, provided that the temperature of the specimens remained unchanged.
Piggott [9] also reported that the fatigue life of FRP composites was insensitive to the
temperature increase at frequencies below 30 Hz. Ferreira et al. [10] investigated the influ-
ence of fiber orientation and loading mode on fatigue behavior of composites, and their
study showed that the lay-up had a strong effect on fatigue strength while the displace-
ment control mode slightly increased the fatigue strength of composites (less than 5%).
Different analytical models [11–14] are also available to predict fatigue life of composites.
Hwang and Han [11,12] used residual stiffness as a parameter to describe the degradation
process during the fatigue and to predict the fatigue life in graphite/epoxy composite
laminates. Ellyin and El-Kadi [13] demonstrated that the strain energy density could be
used as a fatigue failure criterion for FRP composites, and the fatigue life was related to
the total strain energy of the samples using a power law fitting. Wysgoski and Novak [14]
analyzed the fatigue damage of Nylon 66 reinforced by various types of fiber using con-
ventional fracture mechanics curves of the crack growth rate (da/dN) versus the fracture
intensity range (K) and then used this relationship to predict the fatigue life of similar
materials.
In this study, the tension–tension uniaxial fatigue behavior of newly developed
pultruded E-glass/polyurethane composites is characterized. A combined analytical and
experimental approach to characterize the fatigue of fiber-reinforced plastic composites is
developed, and the factors considered include the stress ratio, stress level, and frequency.
Fatigue Life Prediction of Pultruded E-glass/Polyurethane Composites 817

First, a non-dimensional analysis is proposed to establish a prediction equation for the


fatigue life of composites. Then, a series of experimental tests of E-glass/polyurethane
composites under cyclic loading are conducted, and based on the testing data and
proposed prediction equation, the S–N curve and modified Goodman diagram are
constructed to show the fatigue life of pultruded E-glass/polyurethane composites. The
three factors considered are analyzed one by one to show their respective effects on the
fatigue life. A comparison of fatigue behavior among the E-glass/polyurethane composites
and other common FRP materials is presented. Finally, the common failure modes and
degradation of elastic tensile modulus of the specimens are also analyzed and discussed.

ANALYSIS OF FATIGUE

Non-dimensional Analysis

To develop a general model for fatigue life predictions of composites, two types of
parameters, i.e., the testing and material related ones, should be considered. For an ideal
coupon sample subjected to constant amplitude and constant frequency cyclic loading,
the testing parameters, i.e., the stress amplitude (or stress ratio), maximum cyclic stress
(or mean stress), and frequency, are included in the analysis (Figure 1); while the material
parameters, such as the elastic Young’s modulus, mass, and ultimate strength, are taken
into account.
Based on the above parameters in fatigue modeling and the nature of dynamic
effect on fatigue due to cyclic loading, a general model for the fatigue life (N) can be
given as

N ¼ Fð, max , f, E, m, u Þ ð1Þ

1 cycle R = σmin/σmax

σa

Stress ∆σ
σmax

σm

σmin

Time

Figure 1. Sinusoidal loading for fatigue.


818 P. QIAO AND M. YANG

where  is the stress amplitude, and  max is the maximal cyclic stress (Figure 1); f is
the frequency of applied cyclic loading; E is the elastic Young’s modulus; m is the mass of
the composite material; and  u is the uniaxial tensile strength of the composite material.
In this study, a global characterization approach was used, in which the laminates were
tested under the tension–tension uniaxial fatigue loading, and their mechanical responses
(e.g., stress and strain) along the loading direction under cyclic loading were measured.
The effects of fiber volume fraction, composite lay-up, and micro-level failure mechanism
were not studied. Thus, the initial Young’s modulus E0 along the tensile loading direction
is chosen as the Young’s modulus (E), and the static uniaxial tensile strength  u0 is taken
as the uniaxial tensile strength ( u) of the composite material, assuming that the dynamic
strength under low frequency is very close to the static strength.
Normalizing Equation (1) with respect to the material parameters, the fatigue life is
expressed as a function of nondimensional factors as
 
 max Af 2
N¼F , , ð2Þ
u u E

where  is the density of composite material, and A is the cross-sectional area of the
specimen.
Sendeckyj [15] suggested that the residual strength after the constant amplitude cycles
was related to the initial static strength ( u0) by a deterministic equation. Similar to the
one by Caprino and D’Amore [16], the proposed fatigue model in this study begins with a
deterministic equation for the rate of strength degradation with inclusion of nondimen-
sional factor as

dðr =u Þ
¼ C1 nm1 ð3Þ
dn

where  r is the residual strength after n cycles; C1 and m1 are the material constants; and
n is the number of fatigue cycles.
Based on the results postulated by Sendeckyj [15] and Hetrzberg and Manson [17],
C1 can be formulated in terms of nondimensional factors as
 r  m2
 Af 2
C1 ¼ a ð4Þ
u E

where a, r, and m2 are the nonunit constants.


Integrating Equation (3) and considering the corresponding fatigue boundary condi-
tions (i.e., n ¼ 1,  r ¼  u, and n ¼ N,  r ¼  max), the fatigue life is obtained in terms of
nondimensional factors as
   m2  
 1  r Af 2 max
N 1¼ 1 ð5Þ
 u E u

where  and m2 are the material constants; and the non-unit constants  and  are

a
¼ ,  ¼ 1  m1
1  m1
Fatigue Life Prediction of Pultruded E-glass/Polyurethane Composites 819

Note that the effects of the testing parameters, particularly, the frequency, and material
properties are included in Equation (5).
Now considering the general fatigue model proposed in Equation (5) and applying the
log transformation over both sides of the equation, we can obtain
    

  Af 2 max
log N  1 þ log  þ  log þ m2 log ¼ log 1  ð6Þ
u E u

The constants for the given influential parameters (i.e., stress amplitude, frequency, and
maximum stress) can be respectively obtained, and their corresponding effects can be
analyzed.

Implication of Fatigue Model

The so-called ‘Goodman Line’ [19] is commonly used to describe the effect of mean
stress on fatigue strength. The fatigue strength for a given cyclic life time depends on
the cyclic load amplitude ( a) and the mean stress ( m) (Figure 1). Thus, the classical
Goodman relationship [19] is expressed as

a m
¼1 ð7Þ
N u

where  N is the fatigue strength under the cyclic loading with the stress ratio of R ¼ 1.0.
By substituting a ¼ =2 and m ¼ max  =2 (see Figure 1) into Equation (7), the
Goodman relationship thus becomes
 
 u 1 max
 ¼1 ð8Þ
u 2N 2 u

To compare the proposed model in Equation (5) with the classical Goodman Line
equation (i.e., Equations (7) or (8)) and further simplify it to approximate the classical
S–N curves, a constant frequency is applied (i.e., f is a constant) and  ¼ 1 is taken.
For each given fatigue life N (e.g., 103, 105, . . .), Equation (5) is then reduced to
 
 max
B ¼1 ð9Þ
u u

where
 m
Af 2 2 
B¼ ðN  1Þ
E

Equation (9) indicates that the proposed model of Equation (5) has a similar form as the
classical Goodman relationship; however, the present model incorporates three testing
parameter effects (i.e., stress amplitude, frequency, and maximum stress) into one equa-
tion (Equation (5) or Equation (9) for the modified Goodman Line). Thus, the proposed
820 P. QIAO AND M. YANG

model represents a more generic and improved one compared to the classical S–N curve
in the literature, and it has a clear physical meaning on fatigue life prediction.
Equation (9) is further written as


0a m
B ¼1 ð10Þ
N u

where B0 ¼ ð2B þ 1ÞðN =u Þ. Thus, for a given fatigue life (N), a =N is linearly related to
m =u .
Now including the term of fatigue life (N) in the model, Equation (9) is rewritten as
 
  max
C N  1 ¼ 1  ð11Þ
u u

where C ¼ ðAf 2 =EÞm2 . Considering the stress ratio R ¼  min/ max (Figure 1) and the
following relationship:
 
 max
¼ ð1  RÞ ð12Þ
u u

Equation (11) thus becomes:


     
 max max  u
CðN  1Þð1  RÞ ¼ 1 or CðN  1Þð1  RÞ ¼ 1 ð13Þ
u u max

Equation (13) has a clear physical meaning. For R ¼ 1, the fatigue strength  N ¼  max.
By substituting  max ¼  N and R ¼ 1 into Equation (13), we could find

u 1
CðN  1Þ ¼  ð14Þ
2N 2

Considering the relationship given in Equation (14) which is derived from Equation (5)
and comparing it with Equations (7) and (8), we can conclude that the proposed model
(Equation (5)) is coincident with the classical Goodman Line equation (Equation (7))
at R ¼ 1 (i.e., along the vertical axis of the Goodman Line diagram as illustrated later).
Similarly, the following relationships exist for R ¼ 1,

m ¼ u ;  ¼ 0 ð15Þ

where  N and  u are the constants for each Goodman line of a given material. The
conditions in Equation (15) represent the horizontal axis of the Goodman Line diagram
as indicated later.
In summary, the present model (Equation (5)) can be simplified to the classical Goodman
Line model based on the above derivations. However, the proposed model has a strict
Fatigue Life Prediction of Pultruded E-glass/Polyurethane Composites 821

physical and mathematical basis compared to the classical Goodman Line model. Also
it is noticed that if r ¼ 1/2, we could obtain the Gerber formula [17]. Thus, the present
fatigue model represents a more generic and improved fatigue model, in which the effects
of frequency ( f ), load level (i.e., the maximum cyclic stress or mean stress), and stress
ratio (R) (or stress amplitude) are included. The proposed model is used next to study the
effects of stress ratio, frequency, and maximum cyclic stress to the fatigue life prediction
of newly developed E-glass/polyurethane composites and other common polymer matrix
composites. Further, it is interesting to observe that the proposed model can dramatically
reduce the fatigue test samples required by the ASTM standard, as illustrated later in the
experimental section.

Application and Validation of Fatigue Model

As an application and validation, the proposed fatigue model (Equation (5)) is applied
to analyze the existing available data in the literature and also the fatigue data obtained
in this study for E-glass/polyurethane composites (more detailed material and experi-
mental information is introduced later). The proposed model is also used to fit the
experimental data in the S–N curves, and the experimental fatigue life and the material
constants in Equation (5) are given in Table 1 for four different E-glass fiber-reinforced
plastic composites. In order to compare with the classical S–N curve, the four-parameter
nonlinear model (Equation (5)) developed in this study is used to predict the fatigue life N
and the corresponding stress amplitude, of which the predicted S–N curve is obtained.
Compared to the classical S–N curve (the linear experimental data) fitting, the proposed
model (the predicted results) captures the trend of S–N data from the experiments
and provides a consistent prediction of fatigue life (see Figures 2–5). Besides capturing
the effects of stress ratio (or stress amplitude) and maximum stress (or mean stress), the
proposed model is capable of studying the influence of frequency, as illustrated later
for pultruded E-glass/polyurethane composites in this study. In the model proposed
by Epaarachchi and Clausen [18], the effect of frequency was included, but the reason
for changing the integration from the frequency domain to the time domain was not
given. When compared to the model provided by Caprino and D’Amore [16], the
proposed model can be applied to analyze the fatigue of general composites with different
material architectures and under different loading conditions. Hence, the fatigue model
proposed is an improved and generic model with a better predictability and clear physical
meaning.

EXPERIMENTAL FATIGUE CHARACTERIZATION

In this section, the experimental tests of pultruded E-glass/polyurethane composites


were conducted. The experiments were designed to provide sufficient data to establish the
dependence of low cyclic fatigue life on stress range and validate the model proposed in
Equation (5). To avoid the effect of hysteretic heating of the specimen, the fatigue tests
were performed at the low frequency range ( f ¼ 1, 3, and 5 Hz) using a servo-hydraulic
MTS machine. Both the stress range and the number of cycles to failure were recorded for
all the tests.
822
Table 1. Values of model parameters and fatigue life model.
Experimental Classical Parameters
 u, E, , A parameters S–N curve in Equation (5) Loading Reference
E-glass/epoxy
Lay-up: Cross-plies  max ¼ 0.4–0.9 u / u ¼ 0.934–0.0815 log(N)  ¼ 0.32619 Tension–tension E ¼ 3.6  106 psi
 u ¼ 66,000 psi R ¼ 0.05  ¼ 1.17606 is chosen [5]
E ¼ 3.6  106 psi f ¼ 0.01–2.0 Hz m2 ¼ 0
For  < 36,000 psi  ¼ 0.0026454
E ¼ 2.7  106 psi COC** ¼ 0.908
For  > 36,000 psi
A ¼ 3/4  1/8 in.2
 ¼ 2.05 g/cc*
E-glass/polypropylene
Lay-up: Unidirectional R ¼ 0.025 / u ¼ 0.5552–0.0444 log(N)  ¼ 0.36821 Tension–tension [10]
 u ¼ 438 MPa f ¼ 10 Hz  ¼ 0.53896
E ¼ 15,916 MPa  ¼ 130–164 MPa m2 ¼ 0
A ¼ 3.0  30.0 mm2  ¼ 0.0012194
 ¼ 1.75 g/cc* COC** ¼ 0.838
Vf ¼ 0.338

E-glass/vinyl ester
Lay-up: [0]5 R ¼ 0.1 / u ¼ 0.7905–0.0694 log(N)  ¼ 0.55027 Tension–tension [7]
 u ¼ 581 MPa f ¼ 0.1–15 Hz  ¼ 0.72798
E ¼ 21,000 MPa  ¼ 270–430 MPa m2 ¼ 0.028152
A ¼ 25.0  3.68 mm2  ¼ 0.0067362
 ¼ 1.95 g/cc* COC** ¼ 0.939
Vf ¼ 0.27

P. QIAO
E-glass/polyurethane
[CSM/0/90/0/90/0/CSM]  max ¼ 0.2–0.8 u / u ¼ 0.8751–0.1428 log(N) or  ¼ 0.0269 Tension–tension Test data from the
 u ¼ 748.294 MPa R ¼ 0.05–0.9 log(/ u) ¼ 0.5196–0.3264 log(N)  ¼ 0.367 present study

AND
E ¼ 28,826 MPa f ¼ 1–5 Hz m2 ¼ 0.068
A ¼ 25.4  3.175 mm2  ¼ 0.228

M. YANG
 ¼ 1.85 g/cc COC** ¼ 0.773

*An estimated density is used, due to unavailability of the data in the reference.
**COC ¼ the coefficient of correlation.
Fatigue Life Prediction of Pultruded E-glass/Polyurethane Composites 823
1
Experimental data [5]
0.9
Predicted results

0.8 Linear (experimental data [5])

Linear (predicted results)


0.7
Ds/s u

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
log(N)

Figure 2. Comparison of S–N curves for E-glass/epoxy composites [5].

0.39

0.37

0.35

0.33
∆s/s u

0.31 Experimental data [10]

Predicted results
0.29
Linear (experimental data [10])
0.27
Linear (predicted results)

0.25
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
log(N)

Figure 3. Comparison of S–N curves for E-glass/polypropylene composites [10].

Materials

The material used for this study was the E-glass/polyurethane composites manufactured
by the pultrusion process. The lay-up of the material is [CSM/0/90/0/90/0/CSM] including:
(1) two plies of Nexus veil stitched to 1 oz/ft2 continuous strand mats (CSM), (2) two
plies of [0/90] stitched fabrics (18 oz/yd2), and (3) one unidirectional layer consisting
824 P. QIAO AND M. YANG
0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5
Ds/su

0.4

0.3
Experimental data [7]

0.2 Predicted results


Linear (experimental data [7])
0.1
Linear (predicted results)

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
log(N )

Figure 4. Comparison of S–N curves for E-glass/vinyl ester composites [7].

0.9 Experimental data

Predicted results
0.8
Linear (experimental data)

0.7 Linear (predicted results)

0.6
Ds/s u

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
log(N)

Figure 5. Comparison of S–N curves for E-glass/polyurethane composites without considering the unbroken
sample data.

of continuous glass roving of 113 yield (73 tows). The plate panels were cut with a
saw-shear machine, and the coupon samples with dimensions of 25.4  254  3.175 mm3
(1.0  10.0  0.125 in.3) were obtained. These coupon samples were then polished, and
the plastic tabs were bonded to the ends of each coupon using the epoxy adhesive.
Fatigue Life Prediction of Pultruded E-glass/Polyurethane Composites 825

Table 2. Experimental tensile stiffness and strength


of E-glass/polyurethane composites.
Young’s Tensile
Specimen no. modulus (GPa) strength (MPa)
1 23.17 689.48
2 33.16 829.00
3 29.38 758.42
4 30.13 749.34
5 28.29 715.23
Mean values 28.83 748.29
(COV ¼ 12.64%) (COV ¼ 7.06%)

Figure 6. Failure modes of static tests.

The static behavior of the material was first established by testing five specimens
using the ASTM standard and under the displacement control of loading (loading rate ¼
2.0 mm/min), and the stress–strain curves of the corresponding specimens were recorded
and analyzed. The static experimental tensile Young’s modulus (E0) and strength ( u0)
of the composite is given in Table 2. The common failure modes exhibited during the static
tests included the fiber breaking and interlamina delamination (see Figure 6).

Fatigue Testing Procedures

In this study, the effects of stress ratio, frequency, and maximum stress on fatigue life
prediction of E-glass/polyurethane composites were investigated. To obtain the data neces-
sary for establishing the relationship between the low cycle fatigue life and the respective
testing parameters, a range of test combinations with R ¼ 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, and 0.9;
f ¼ 1, 3, and 5 Hz; and  max ¼ 0.20, 0.50, and 0.80 u0 was conducted. A load control mode
was adopted, and the fatigue failure is defined as the complete breaking/separation of the
samples. For the classical S–N model to the proposed test combination, a total of 12 S–N
curves is needed corresponding to the combined frequency ( f ) and load ratio (R), resulting
in a total number of 72 tests if a minimum number of six samples is used for each curve.
As per ASTM D 3479 requirements (see Table 1 in [20]), the minimum number of
specimens required for each S–N curve is six for preliminary and exploratory study, 12 for
826 P. QIAO AND M. YANG

research and development testing, and 24 for design allowable and reliability data. Based
on the present model, of which the testing parameters (e.g., the frequency and the load
ratio) are interrelated as shown in Equation (5), all the tests under different frequen-
cies and load ratios can be used to obtain a particular S–N curve, which reduces the
total number of tests to 36. Thus, a significant amount of time and effort could be saved
compared to the classical S–N model using more test samples.
The experimental process involved: (1) let the loading be ramped to the mean stress (the
stress set point); (2) let the load run cyclically to the full amplitude, and count the transi-
tion cycle numbers; and (3) monitor the peak and valley values for the test, and record
the instance of 2% deviations. A total of 36 samples were tested, and their fatigue life (N)
under a given testing parameter combination was recorded (Table 3). No significant

Table 3. Fatigue test results under different experimental parameters.


Frequency Fatigue
Specimen no. Stress ratio  (psi)  max (psi) (Hz) life (N)
1 0.05 83079.3 87451.9 1 202
2 0.05 83079.3 87451.9 3 282
3 0.05 83079.3 87451.9 5 424
4 0.1 78706.8 87452.0 1 68
5 0.1 78706.7 87451.9 3 186
6 0.1 78706.7 87451.9 5 187
7 0.5 43726.0 87451.9 1 70
8 0.5 43726.0 87451.9 3 158
9 0.5 43725.9 87452.0 5 881
10 0.9 9048.1 90481.2 1 6073
11 0.9 8765.4 87653.9 3 3036
12 0.9 9417.7 94176.5 5 12,266
13 0.05 51413.1 54119.0 1 702
14 0.05 51725.0 54447.4 3 1187
15 0.05 50953.8 53635.5 5 1552
16 0.1 46628.7 51809.6 1 841
17 0.1 46193.4 51326.0 3 448
18 0.1 44897.2 49885.8 5 1143
19 0.5 31319.5 62638.9 1 5572
20 0.5 27194.9 54389.7 3 6267
21 0.5 27328.7 54657.5 5 8695
22 0.9 5465.7 54657.5 1 26,212
23 0.9 5465.7 54657.5 3 632,000
24 0.9 5465.7 54657.4 5 163,670
25 0.05 20769.8 21863.0 1 102,067
26 0.05 20769.9 21863.0 3 149,118
27 0.05 20769.8 21862.9 5 190,663
28 0.1 19676.7 21862.4 1 352,029
29 0.1 19676.7 21863.0 3 119,515
30 0.1 19676.6 21862.9 5 31,141
31 0.5 10931.5 21863.0 1 409,558
32 0.5 10931.5 21863.0 3 1,550,051*
33 0.5 10931.5 21863.0 5 3,473,360*
34 0.9 2186.3 21863.0 1 1  106*
35 0.9 2186.3 21863.0 3 1  106*
36 0.9 2186.3 21863.0 5 1  106*
*Indicate that the sample did not fail after the given cycles.
Fatigue Life Prediction of Pultruded E-glass/Polyurethane Composites 827

temperature increase was observed during the fatigue experiments, indicating that the
temperature effect on fatigue life could be excluded.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this section, the experimental fatigue data of E-glass/polyurethane composites


were analyzed using the proposed model, and the effects of stress ratio, frequency, and
mean stress on the fatigue life have been discussed and compared with the classical S–N
curves. The master fatigue design diagram based on the proposed model is established
for E-glass/polyurethane composites and compared with the Goodman Line model. The
degradation of tensile Young’s modulus and fatigue failure modes are analyzed. Finally,
the bounds for the S–N curves based on the statistical analysis are provided.

The S–N Curves

The classical S–N curves for individual stress ratios and frequencies are plotted in
Figure 7. As shown in Figure 7, the stress ratio has an influential effect on the fatigue
life prediction. Using the regression technique, the classical S–N curve equations
and the related coefficient of correlation (COC) for individuals given stress ratios and
frequencies are:
 

log ¼ 0:2129 logðNÞ þ 0:3707 for R ¼ 0:05, f ¼ 1 Hz ðCOC ¼ 0:9851Þ ð16aÞ
u
 

log ¼ 0:216 logðNÞ þ 0:4083 for R ¼ 0:05, f ¼ 3 Hz ðCOC ¼ 0:9770Þ ð16bÞ
u
 

log ¼ 0:2111 logðNÞ þ 0:3255 for R ¼ 0:05, f ¼ 5 Hz ðCOC ¼ 0:9754Þ ð16cÞ
u
 

log ¼ 0:2718 logðNÞ þ 0:4785 for R ¼ 0:1, f ¼ 1 Hz ðCOC ¼ 0:9997Þ ð16dÞ
u
 

log ¼ 0:1965 logðNÞ þ 0:2433 for R ¼ 0:1, f ¼ 3 Hz ðCOC ¼ 0:9548Þ ð16eÞ
u
 

log ¼ 0:1586 logðNÞ þ 0:1255 for R ¼ 0:1, f ¼ 5 Hz ðCOC ¼ 0:9914Þ ð16f Þ
u
 

log ¼ 0:1597 logðNÞ  0:0704 for R ¼ 0:5, f ¼ 1 Hz ðCOC ¼ 0:9647Þ ð16gÞ
u
 

log ¼ 0:1520 logðNÞ  0:0491 for R ¼ 0:5, f ¼ 3 Hz ðCOC ¼ 0:9952Þ ð16hÞ
u
 

log ¼ 0:1645 logðNÞ þ 0:0695 for R ¼ 0:5, f ¼ 5 Hz ðCOC ¼ 0:9953Þ ð16iÞ
u
 

log ¼ 0:3234 logðNÞ þ 0:2949 for R ¼ 0:9, f ¼ 1 Hz ðCOC ¼ 0:9396Þ ð16jÞ
u
828 P. QIAO AND M. YANG

(a) 0.4

0.2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-0.2
Log (∆σ/σu)

y = -0.2111x+0.3255
-0.4
R2=0.9754(R=0.05,f=5)
-0.6 R=0.05,f=1
R=0.05,f=3 y = -0.216x+0.4083
-0.8 R2 = 0.977(R=0.05,f=3)
R=0.05,f=5
Linear (R=0.05,f=1)
-1
Linear (R=0.05,f=3)
y = -0.2129x+0.3707
-1.2 Linear (R=0.05,f=5)
R2 = 0.9851(R=0.05,f=1)

-1.4
log(N)
0.6
(b)
0.4

0.2

0
-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Log (∆σ/σu)

-0.2

-0.4
y = -0.1586x+0.1255
R=0.1,f=1
-0.6 R2 = 0.9914(R=0.1,f=1)
R=0.1,f=3
-0.8 R=0.1,f=5
Linear (R=0.1,f=1) y = -0.1965x+0.2433
-1 R2 = 0.9548(R=0.1,f=3)
Linear (R=0.1,f=3)
-1.2 Linear (R=0.1,f=5) y = -0.2718x+0.4785
R2 = 0.9997(R=0.1,f=5)
-1.4
log(N)

0
(c) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
-0.2

-0.4
Log (∆σ/σu)

-0.6
y = -0.1645x+0.0695
-0.8
R2 = 0.9953(R=0.5,f=5)
R=0.5,f=1
-1
R=0.5,f=3
R=0.5,f=5
-1.2
Linear (R=0.5,f=1) y = -0.1597x-0.0704
Linear (R=0.5,f=3) R2 = 0.9647(R=0.5,f=1) y = -0.152x-0.0491
-1.4
R2 = 0.9952(R=0.5,f=3)
Linear (R=0.5,f=5)
-1.6
log(N)

Figure 7. Effect of stress ratios on the S–N curves of E-glass/polyurethane composites: (a) R ¼ 0.05;
(b) R ¼ 0.1; and (c) R ¼ 0.5.
Fatigue Life Prediction of Pultruded E-glass/Polyurethane Composites 829

For f ¼ 3, 5 Hz and R ¼ 0.9, the fatigue life is usually longer than 1.0  106 cycles, which
is the endurance limit for the material from the test data, and it belongs to the high cycle
fatigue failure.
The corresponding S–N curves predicted by the present model are compared with
the tested data for each stress ratio and frequency (Figure 8). As shown in Figure 8,

(a) 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-0.1

-0.2
log(∆σ/σu)

-0.3

-0.4
R=0.05,f=1, predicted
-0.5 R=0.05,f=3, predicted
R=0.05,f=5, predicted
-0.6 R=0.05,f=1, experimental data
R=0.05,f=3, experimental data
-0.7 R=0.05,f=5, experimental data

-0.8
log(N)

(b) 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-0.1

-0.2

-0.3
log(∆σ/σu)

-0.4
R=0.1,f=1, predicted
-0.5 R=0.1,f=3, predicted
R=0.1,f=5, predicted
-0.6 R=0.1,f=1, experimental data

-0.7 R=0.1,f=3, experimental data


R=0.1,f=5, experimental data
-0.8
log(N)

(c) 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
-0.2

-0.4
log(∆σ/σu)

R=0.5,f=1, predicted
-0.6
R=0.5,f=3, predicted

-0.8 R=0.5,f=5, predicted


R=0.5,f=1, experiemental data

-1 R=0.5,f=3, experimental data


R=0.5,f=5, experimental data
-1.2
log(N)

Figure 8. Comparisons of predicted S–N curves with testing data for E-glass/polyurethane composites:
(a) R ¼ 0.05; (b) R ¼ 0.1; and (c) R ¼ 0.5.
830 P. QIAO AND M. YANG
1
E-glass/ductile epoxy, R=0.1,
unidirection
0.9
E-glass/brittle epoxy, R=0.1,
unidirection
0.8
[1], R=0.05
0.7
[2], R=0.025
0.6
Ds/s u

[3], R=0.1
0.5

0.4 R=0.05,f=1

0.3 R=0.1,f=1

0.2 Linear (R=0.05,f=1)

0.1
Linear (R=0.1,f=1)

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
log(N )

Figure 9. Comparisons of the S–N curves of E-glass/polyurethane composites with other common
composites.

the predicted results are better related to the testing data and could be used to replace the
classical S–N curves.
As expected and also indicated in Equation (16) and Figures 7 and 8, the larger
the stress ratio, the longer the fatigue life proceeds [21]. Compared to other E-glass fiber-
reinforced plastic composites [5,7,10] (see Table 1), the S–N curve of E-glass/polyurethane
composites has a higher value of slope and a comparable interception, which indicates
that the E-glass/polyurethane composites are more fatigue sensitive. The comparisons
of the S–N curves of E-glass/polyurethane composites with other fiber-reinforced plastic
composites are also shown in Figure 9.
As shown in Figure 10 and Equation (16), we could observe that the test frequency
has a pronounced influence on the S–N curve. The slope of the S–N curve decreases as
the frequency increases, which indicates that the increased frequency extends the fatigue
life of the composites as expected.

Modified Goodman Line

Besides the effects of stress ratio and frequency, the fatigue life is also dependent on the
mean stress at any given load amplitude. The effect of mean stress can be described by the
modified Goodman Line concept as suggested by the present model. Based on the experi-
mental data, the modified Goodman master diagram is developed and given in Figure 11
for f ¼ 1 Hz. As shown in Figure 11, the fatigue life of E-glass/polyurethane composites
decreases as the mean stress increases. Similarly, as the stress amplitude increases, the
fatigue life is correspondingly reduced.
Fatigue Life Prediction of Pultruded E-glass/Polyurethane Composites 831
0
0 2 4 6 8
f = 1 Hz
-0.2 f = 3 Hz
f = 5 Hz
f = 1 Hz, E-glass/polyester [7]
-0.4 f = 15 Hz, E-glass/polyester [7]
Linear (f = 3 Hz)
Linear (f = 5 Hz)
-0.6 Linear (f = 1 Hz)
log(Ds/s u)

-0.8

-1

-1.2

-1.4

-1.6
log(N )

Figure 10. Effect of frequencies on the S–N curves of E-glass/polyurethane composites for all stress ratios.

0.6
R=0.05
R=0.1
0.5 R=0.5
Normalized stress amplitude

R=0.9

0.4
100

0.3

0.2 103

0.1
105

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Normalized mean stress

Figure 11. Modified Goodman Line diagram of E-glass/polyurethane composites for f ¼ 1 Hz (both the mean
stress and the stress amplitude are normalized by the ultimate static strength).
832 P. QIAO AND M. YANG

Degradation of Young’s Modulus and Fatigue Failure Modes

As the cyclic loading progresses, the tensile fatigue modulus (Ef) decays from its initial
values E0 (given in Table 2) to the critical fatigue modulus. The fatigue modulus is
measured during the unloading portion of a tension–tension cycle (or tensile part of
the fatigue cycle), which is the slope of the line between the cyclic maximum stress/strain
and the cyclic minimum stress/strain. The initial modulus is measured during the unload-
ing portion of the first fatigue cycle. The normalized fatigue modulus (Ef /E0) is defined
as the ratio between the tensile fatigue modulus at any given fatigue life and the initial
tensile fatigue modulus. Dharan [22] observed that the decay of normalized fatigue
modulus for axial tensile fatigue tests of a unidirectional E-glass/epoxy composite
at f ¼ 5 Hz, R ¼ 0 is about 40% when the critical normalized fatigue modulus was reached.
Agarwal and James [5] also studied the decay of the fatigue modulus from the axial tensile
fatigue tests of an E-glass/epoxy cross-ply composite under stress or strain control of
f ¼ 0.01–2.0 Hz and R ¼ 0.05. Their data indicated that the increasing decay of fatigue
modulus was from 3 to 15% with respect to the decreasing stress range. Jessen and
Plumtree [23] showed that the decay of about 4% in the normalized fatigue modulus
occurred before the critical normalized fatigue modulus was reached for an E-glass/
polyester composite under a constant load level (50–80% ultimate strength) at f ¼ 5 Hz
and R ¼ 0.05.
In this study, the decay of fatigue modulus is also observed (see Figure 12). However,
a moderate degradation of fatigue modulus (about 8%) was observed before the critical
normalized fatigue modulus was reached compared to the published cases in [5,22].
The macroscopic fatigue damage process was observed physically. The physical
damage process of E-glass/polyurethane composites under cyclic loading initiated as the

1.05

0.95

0.9
Ef/E0

0.85

0.8

0.75

0.7
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000
N

Figure 12. Degradation of fatigue modulus of E-glass/polyurethane composites at R ¼ 0.05,  max ¼ 0.2  u
and f ¼ 5 Hz.
Fatigue Life Prediction of Pultruded E-glass/Polyurethane Composites 833

Figure 13. Failure modes of E-glass/polyurethane composites from the fatigue tests.

interlaminar delamination occurred, followed by partial fiber breaking from one side of
the specimen and eventually extended to the full fiber breaking across the width of the
specimen. The typical failure modes (i.e., interlaminar delamination and fiber breaking)
could be vividly observed in Figure 13.

Bounds for the S–N Curves

Due to the scattering fatigue data, a statistical analysis is necessary to represent the test
results. In assessing the reliability of composite structures, the two-parameter Weibull
distribution is commonly used to represent the constant amplitude fatigue life data [20,24].
To facilitate the analysis of the present fatigue data, a set of assumptions for the purpose
of simplification was made: (1) the relationship between the log transformations of the
measured life (N cycles) and the stress is in a linear function and (2) the distribution
834 P. QIAO AND M. YANG

function of the residuals about the mean line is homogeneous, i.e., it does not depend
on the stress level. A two-parameter Weibull distribution cumulative function for the
fatigue life is given as
   
N
FðNÞ ¼ 1  exp  ð17Þ


where  is the Weibull scale, and  is the shape parameter.


To determine the values of  and  for the present fatigue data, a method similar to
that by Talreja [25] is followed. Using the log transformation over the Weibull distribution
cumulative function, we can obtain
   
1 N
ln ¼ ð18Þ
1  FðNÞ 

Further, Equation (18) can be simplified as,


  
1
ln ln ¼  lnðNÞ   lnðÞ ð19Þ
1  FðNÞ

Using a linear regression program, the best estimations of  and  are computed as
 ¼ 63:9464
 ¼ 0:9434

The bounds with 95% confidence for the Weibull distribution parameters (Figure 14)
and the S–N curves (Figure 15) for the fatigue data of E-glass/polyurethane composites in
this study are, respectively, obtained based on the maximum likelihood technique [25].

3
Predicted data

2 Lower bound with 95% confidence

Upper bound with 95% confidence


1 Experimental data

0
ln(ln(1/(1-F)))

1 2 3 4 5 6

-1

-2

-3

-4

-5

ln(N )

Figure 14. The bounds for the Weibull distribution curve with 95% confidence.
Fatigue Life Prediction of Pultruded E-glass/Polyurethane Composites 835
0.9
Experimental data
0.8
Lower bound with 95%
confidence
0.7
Upper bound with 95%
confidence
0.6 Prediction data

0.5
∆σ/σu

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

log(N)

Figure 15. The bounds for the S–N curves of E-glass/polyurethane with 95% confidence.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the nondimensional analysis of fatigue life prediction, an improved and


generic fatigue model (see Equation (5)) including the effects of stress ratio R, maximal
cyclic stress  max and frequency f as testing parameters is proposed. As shown in this
study, the proposed model has the same form as the Goodman Line relationship;
but it incorporates the effects of three testing parameters into one equation (Equation (5)).
Thus, it has a strict mathematical basis and provides a consistent and clear physical
meaning on the fatigue characterization of fiber-reinforced plastic composites. The
proposed fatigue model (Equation (5)) is in good agreement with fatigue predictions of
the existing data in the literature and provides fatigue prediction of the present test data of
pultruded E-glass/polyurethane composites. Also the test results indicated that the studied
E-glass/polyurethane composite is a fatigue sensitive material compared to other common
E-glass fiber-reinforced plastic composites (e.g., E-glass/polyester and E-glass/epoxy);
but their fatigue life is in a comparable range. The modified Goodman Line, indicating the
effects of mean stress and stress magnitude, is established for the fatigue life prediction of
E-glass/polyurethane composites. The best-fit S–N curve and its corresponding bounds
based on 95% confidence were also provided for the newly developed pultruded E-glass/
polyurethane composites.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study is partially supported by the Creative Pultrusions (CP), Inc., Alum Bank,
PA. We thank the technical input provided by Mr Dustin Troutman of CP.
836 P. QIAO AND M. YANG

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