Composites Science and Technology 58 (1998) 957-965
c 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Pll: SO266-3538(97)00221-2
ELSEVIER
FLEXURAL FATIGUE BEHAVIOUR OF RANDOM
CONTINUOUS-FIBRE-REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC
COMPOSITES
G. Caprino
Department of Materials and Production Engineering, Universityof Naples ‘Federico II’, Piazzale Tecchio. 80, 80125 Naples, Italy
(Received 16 September 1997; accepted 7 November 1997)
Abstract
Static andfatigue tests have been performed in four-point
bending on a random continuous-fibre-reinforced poly-
propylene. The data obtained were used to assess a
closed-form formula, previously presented, aimed at the
prediction of the fatigue response of a composite material,
and explicitly accounting for the eflect of the stress ratio.
Comparing the experimental results with similar data
available in the literature for thermoset-based composites,
it was shown that the presence of an inherently ductile,
thermoplastic matrix does not sensibly af,&ectthe fatigue
sensitivity of the material, probably because of the con-
straint action of the reinforcement. From the fatigue
model, a statistical model was developed, assuming a dis-
tribution of the static strength according to a two-para-
meter Weibull distribution, The data were in excellent
agreement with theoretical predictions, indicating that a
fatigue characterisation for probabilistic design can be
achieved by a minimum of experimental tests. 0 1998
Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Keywords: B. fatigue, composites, Weibull, stress ratio
1 INTRODUCTION
Among the different engineering fields which are candi-
dates for composite application, one of the most attrac-
tive is the automotive, because of the very high material
volumes involved. Unfortunately, the production rates
presently allowed by industrial fabrication techniques
and the material cost itself generally render the most
sophisticated composites, made of exotic, continuous
fibres, unsuitable for the car and truck industry. This
statement does not hold when random glass-fibre-rein-
forced plastics (RGFRP) are considered, for which
production methods capable of fulfilling the require-
ments of the automotive industry in terms of both pro-
duction rate and cost are available.
Presently, a variety of RGFRP systems, different in
reinforcement form (short, chopped or continuous
Printed in Northern Ireland
0266-3538/98 >-see front matter
& A. D’Amore
fibres) and resin type (thermoset or thermoplastic) has
found widespread use in the car industry, as well as in
other high-production-rate industries. When possible,
continuous fibres are preferred as reinforcement form,
due to their capability to provide higher mechanical
properties.
Many of the components for which RGFRP have
been adopted as standard materials in the automotive
industry, such as body, roof and floor panels, are
mainly subjected in service to flexural, variable loading.
A rational design of such parts should require a sound
knowledge of the material behaviour in flexural fatigue.
Unfortunately, the results available on the fatigue of
randomly oriented fibre composites, quite recently col-
lected in an excellent review by Mandell,’ have shown
evidence of the complexity of damage mechanisms
occurring during cyclic loading. Depending on the par-
ticular material system and load conditions, accumula-
tion of matrix cracking accompanied by debonding at
the fibre/matrix interface and at the fibre ends, in addi-
tion to nucleation and growth of a dominant crack or
matrix yielding, can prevail in precipitating the final
failure.2-5 For highly stressed continuous-glass-fibre
reinforced composites, static fatigue and corrosion phe-
nomena occurring in the reinforcement can also play a
major role in determining fatigue life.6+7It seems likely,
therefore, that a single fatigue model is unlikely to
attain general validity, so that it becomes important to
define the limits of applicability of the various analytical
methods available in the literature.
One of the most important parameters influencing
fatigue life is the stress ratio, R. It is known5*8 that, for a
given maximum stress, the fatigue life notably increases
with increasing R. Recently, two models have been
proposed4v9T’0to account for the effect of R on the fati-
gue life of fibre-reinforced composite materials. In par-
ticular, the first mode19~i0 was tested for continuous-
fibre composites, whereas the second4 was validated by
using a RGFRP with a polyester/polyurethane matrix.
The analytical approach followed in Ref. 4 was based
on the assumption of a mechanical degradation of the
material according to a power law. It was therefore
95-i
958 G. Caprino, A. D’Amore

argued that its applicability could fail when the final 3 ANALYSIS
collapse is determined by creep phenomena or matrix
yielding. These failure modes are typically experienced In this section, the features of the model proposed in
when thermoplastic matrices are used. Ref. 4 relevant to the present work are recalled. The
Compared to thermosets, thermoplastics offer the model is then developed according to a statistical
advantages of faster processability, easier storage, and approach.
recycling, resulting in lower environmental impact. On
the other hand, the effect of their substitution for ther- 3.1 Fatigue model
mosets on the fatigue life of reinforced plastics must be The starting point for the model proposed in Ref. 4 was
better evaluated. the hypothesis that, during cycling, the material
Finally, one of the problems usually encountered in strength undergoes a continuous decay, following a
design for long-term exposure is the high scatter gen- power law:
erally affecting fatigue tests. This calls for a better
understanding of the causes of variability in fatigue life, da, -b
-= -a.n (1)
as well as for design methods based on statistical dn
approaches.

where a, is the residual material strength after n cycles,

2 SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANCE and b is a positive definite constant, dependent on the
material under concern, as well as on the mode of
With the previous premises, the scope of this work was loading. The constant a was assumed to increase line-
threefold: arly with the stress amplitude, Aa:

a=ao.Aa (2)
(4 to assess the model presented in Ref. 4 for the
case of RGFRP with a thermoplastic resin;
@I to verify the effect of the resin type on the fatigue
where ao, like b, is a constant for given material and
response of a RGFRP;
load conditions, and AC-Iis defined as:
cc> to study the fatigue behaviour from a statistical
point of view, in order to obtain a tool for prob- Aa = amax - amin (3)
abilistic design methodologies.

To achieve these goals, static and fatigue tests in four- In eqn (3) urnax and omin represent the maximum and
point bending were carried out on a random con- minimum stress during fatigue cycling, respectively.
tinuous-fibre-reinforced polypropylene resin. Three dif- Substituting eqn (2) into eqn (1) the latter was inte-
ferent R ratios were adopted in fatigue. The results were grated, and the constant of integration was obtained by
handled according to the model discussed in Ref. 4. the boundary condition n = 1 --+ a,, = aa, where cro is
Despite the anticipation, a good correlation was found the static strength of virgin material. Introducing the
between theoretical predictions and experimental data. stress ratio R, given by:
A possible reason for the negligible effect of matrix
amin
yielding on the fatigue behaviour was given by the R=p (4)
microscopic observation of fracture surfaces, revealing Cr,ax

little plastic deformation in the resin. Probably, the

intrinsically ductile behaviour of polypropylene was the following equation is obtained:
impaired by the complex state of stress generated by the
constraining action of the fibres. Consequently, the f.70- CT,= o! . CT,,, (l-R)+za-1) (5)
fatigue response of the composite under investigation
was very similar to that of the RGFRP considered in
Ref. 4, where a thermosetting matrix was used. with
To treat the available data statistically, the model
a0
presented in Ref. 4 was developed, assuming a variation (6’)
cw=l_b
of the static strength according to a Weibull distribu-
tion. It was then possible to compare the static and
fatigue data on a common basis, and an excellent cor-
relation between the two was found. The results B=l-b (6”)
obtained should permit us to characterise the fatigue
response of a composite with a minimum of laboratory Equation (5) provides the degradation in strength
tests. during fatigue cycling. Supposing that the fatigue failure
 Flexural fatigue behaviour of random continuous-jibre-reinforced
happens when the residual material strength matches
the maximum applied stress, the critical number of
cycles to failure, N, is calculated by putting a,, = amax in
eqn (5):
l . (-=&- I)y (7)
ar.(l -R)
Equation (7) is then rearranged in the form:
&=,.(N@- 1) (8)
According to eqn (8), all the fatigue data should con-
verge to a single master curve, irrespective of the stress
ratio adopted, when the quantity on the left-hand side is
plotted against N. Moreover, plotting the term on the
left-hand side against (Nfl - 1) should result in a
straight line of slope 01passing through the origin. The
latter observation was used to evaluate LXand B by sui-
tably adjusting the fi value until the best-fit straight line
through the experimental data actually passed through
the origin.
3.2 Statistical implementation
To resort to a statistical analysis of the fatigue data, a
method conceptually similar to that presented in Ref. 11
is followed.
It is assumed that the scatter in the monotonic mate-
rial strength, ao, is well represented by a two-parameter
Weibull distribution. Therefore, the probability of find-
ing a 00 value 5 x is given by:
F,,O(x) = P(ao 5 x} = 1 - exp[-(x/y)‘] (9)
where y is the scale parameter or the characteristic
strength, and 6 is the shape parameter.
It is also hypothesised that the parameters (Yand /3 are
not statistical variables, and that the scatter in fatigue
life is uniquely due to the variability in static strength, in
such a way that a lower fatigue life is associated with a
lower ultimate strength. Under these assumptions, the
probability of finding an N value 5 N* is obtained from
eqn (7):
FN(N*) =
’ . (z- l)]“‘j N*)
cr.(l - R)
Rearranging eqn (10) results in:
FdN*) = P{uo5 umax. [l+~.(N*B-l)(l-~)]}
(11)
thermoplastic composites 959
and, recalling eqn (9):
c$,,,;[l +cr.(N*B-l)(l -R#
YS
from which the statistical distribution of fatigue lives
can be calculated.
It is interesting to note that eqn (12) meets the
boundary conditions for monotonic tests. In fact, put-
ting N* = 1, eqn (12) becomes:
Fdl) = 1 - ev[-(~maxlr)s] (13)
Comparing eqn (13) and eqn (9), it is concluded that, as
expected, the probability of a specimen failing in fatigue
within the first cycle coincides with the monotonic
strength distribution.
Solving eqn (12) for N*, it is obtained:
&. 1ln[ 1 - FN(N*)] I Iis - 1
(14)
Equation (14) is particularly useful in design, because
it allows the direct calculation of the classical S-N curve
for a fixed probability of failure F,v(N*), when the stress
ratio R is given.
4 MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
The specimens for monotonic and fatigue tests were cut
from rectangular plates, about 400mm in length,
300mm in width, and 4mm in thickness, made of ran-
dom continuous-glass-fibre-reinforced polypropylene.
The dimensions of the samples were 80x20 mm. The
measured fibre content by volume was Vr = 0.2.
Both the monotonic and fatigue tests were carried out
in four-point bending at room temperature, adopting an
outer span I= 66 mm, an inner span a = 22 mm, and a
sinusoidal waveform. The testing machine was an
Instron 8501 servo-hydraulic system in load control.
The frequencies used during the fatigue tests were in the
range f = 0.8-2 Hz, to avoid significant heating of the
material. The actual frequency was chosen so that the
same initial stress rate could be applied on all samples.
Higher frequencies were therefore used for lower max-
imum stress levels. The stress ratio was varied in the
range R =0.1&O-5, and the criterion of complete failure
was conventionally assumed to determine fatigue life.
The load levels during fatigue were selected in the range
O+O-9 of the mean monotonic failure load. The latter
960 G. Caprino, A. D’Amore
was measured in crosshead control, at a crosshead speed
of 100 mm min-‘, to provide an initial stress rate similar
to that attained in fatigue. In all, 15 monotonic and 35
fatigue tests were performed.
After tests, the external surfaces of all the specimens
were observed for the detection of eventual visible
damage. Some fracture surfaces were also analysed by
scanning electron microscopy (SEM), in order to deter-
mine failure modes.
5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
From the 15 monotonic flexural tests, the mean flexural
strength of the material under investigation was calcu-
lated through the well-known strength-of-materials for-
mulae, providing a0 = 185 Nmm-*. The fatigue data
were then normal&d with respect to 00, and reported
on a classical semi-logarithmic S-N plot (Fig. 1).
The general behaviour of the material follows the
trend described in Ref. 4 for a thermoset-based
RGFRP, with higher fatigue durations pertaining to
higher stress ratios.
The fatigue lifetime of many composite systems is
often described by the simple equation:
amaX/aO= 1 - c. Log N (15)
According to eqn (15) the experimental points of the
S-N curve should fall on a straight line passing through
the point (Log N = 0, 0in~Ja0 = 1), when reported on a
semi-log scale. One of the advantages of using eqn (15)
is in the fact that the fatigue sensitivity can be evaluated
by a single coefficient, c, i.e. the absolute value of the
slope of the straight line fitting the experimental data.
This method was utilised by Mandelli to rank a variety
of composite systems on the basis of their fatigue beha-
viour.
I
0.75
0.25
A R = 0.5
I I I I
0 for the material tested
0 2 4 6 8
LopN
Fig. 1. Semi-log plot of the normalised maximum stress,
a,,,/~, against number of cycles to failure, N, for different
values of the stress ratio, R.
Looking at the data in Fig. 1, it is seen that eqn (15)
can be approximately applied also for the material con-
sidered in this work. To measure the fatigue sensitivity,
each data set in Fig. 1 was fitted by a best-fit straight
line (not shown in the figure) conditioned to pass
through the point (Log N = 0, amax/~s = l), and the c
values shown in Table 1 were obtained. For R = 0.1, c
was quoted by Mandell’ in the range -0.09 to -0.135
for short-glass-fibre-reinforced thermoplastics. The
value c =0+124 calculated here is in good agreement
with the findings of Mandell,’ and demonstrates that
the presence of continuous fibres, as compared to short
fibres, does not sensibly improve the fatigue behaviour
of a composite system. From Table 1, c appears to
depend on R, decreasing as the latter increases. This
only indicates that the fatigue life, as previously shown,
increases with increasing R for a given maximum stress.
Some interesting considerations can be made, if the
experimental results in Fig. 1 are fitted by a straight line
of equation:
a,,,/ao= d-f. Log N (16)
so that the straight line is not forced to fulfil the
boundary condition amax/uo = 1 + LogN = 0. The cal-
culated values of the constants d and fin eqn (16) are
reported in the third and fourth column in Table 1.
Despite the scatter of data, a clear trend is observed
from these values. The intercept of the straight lines is
always higher than unity, and tends to increase with
increasing stress ratio, whereas the slope f progressively
decreases under the same circumstances. Therefore, the
effect of R cannot be accounted for by a simple shift of
the experimental points along the x axis.
Other researchers,’ working on thermoplastic-matrix
composites, have shown that their fatigue lifetime at
sufficiently high cycles follows a nearly linear trend,
provided the S-N data are presented on a log-log plot.
Therefore, the fatigue life could be described by the law:
umax/uo
= N-(““‘) (17)
In Fig. 2, the same data shown in Fig. 1 are replotted
on a log-log diagram. The continuous straight lines
reported in the figure were drawn by the best-fit
method, and approximate with sufficient accuracy the
experimental points. From their slope, the m values in
eqn (17) were calculated for each R, and are reported in
Table 1. Values of the coefficients appearing in eqns (15)-(17)
R C d f m
0.1 0.124 I .09 0.147 8.40
0.3 0.108 I.11 0.134 9.17
0.5 0.096 1.15 0.128 9.71
 Flexural fatigue behaviour of random continuous-jibre-reinforced
the last column in Table 1. Limiting the attention to
R = 0.1, m is 8.4, in very good agreement with the data
reported elsewhere’ for injection-moulded, short-fibre
composites, for which m = 7-9 was found. However,
from Table 1, m seems to depend on R, increasing as R
increases.
From the straight lines in Fig. 2, it is apparent that
their intercept is far from coincident with the origin.
This trend has been interpreted’ as a transition in failure
modes from matrix shear yielding at low cycles (high
stress levels) to a single crack growth at high cycles.
Only the latter behaviour should be described by eqn
(17) which can be theoretically derived’ from the Paris
law, modelling a single crack growth under fatigue con-
ditions. Therefore, the fatigue lifetime at low cycles
should follow a different law.
The previous considerations highlight two needs to be
accomplished, in order to obtain reliable design proce-
dures based on fatigue lifetime:
(a) models must be built, capable to describe the
fatigue behaviour at low, as well as at high cycles;
(b) the effect of the stress ratio must be accounted for
in the models.
Both of these features are present in the model pre-
sented in Ref. 4, which was assessed for a random-fibre-
reinforced thermosetting resin. In Ref. 4, it was noticed
that the applicability of the proposed formula could fail
if different failure mechanisms determined lifetime at
low and high cycles. From this aspect, it is then parti-
cularly useful to assess the proposed model for a ther-
moplastic-based composite whose fatigue behaviour, as
previously shown, substantially agrees with similar
materials treated in the literature.
To test the model, eqn (8) was utilised. According to
this equation, all the fatigue data obtained for different
R values should converge to a single curve, provided the
term on the left-hand side, indicated by the symbol K in
the following, is reported against N.
0
- -0.2
g=
1
d z
zi
s -0.4 OR
OR
A R=0.5
-0.6
0 2 4 6
h0
Fig. 2. Log-log plot of the normalised maximum stress,
o,,,,,/ao, against number of cycles to failure, N, for different
values of the stress ratio, R.
thermoplastic composites 961
The K value was calculated for each experimental
point, and reported against N on a semi-log scale
(Fig. 3). As anticipated, all the data fall sensibly on a
single line, irrespective of R. This indicates that the
effect of the stress ratio is efficiently modelled. Never-
theless, Fig. 3 does not yield direct evidence of the
validity of eqn (7) in describing the S-N curve. To
demonstrate this, it is necessary to show that eqn (7) is
satisfactorily able to fit the actual trend of K as a func-
tion of N.
In Ref. 4, it was noted that, according to eqn (8)
plotting K against (NB - 1) should result in a straight
line passing through the origin, provided the correct
value is used for fi. This observation was utilised to cal-
culate both /? and CY.The latter value should be given by
the slope of the straight line.
The previous procedure was also followed in this
work, and the results reported in Fig. 4 were obtained,
putting /?=0.194. In the figure, no distinction is made
between points referring to different R values.
It can be seen that, although there is some scatter, all
the points actually follow a linear trend. From the slope
of the best-fit straight line, shown in the figure, the value
CY = 0.224 was calculated.
The continuous lines in Figs 1 and 3 represent the
fatigue predictions based on eqns (7) and (8), respec-
tively, in which the values of the constants a, /? specified
above where adopted. The agreement with experimental
data is satisfying.
The results available do not permit us to draw any
conclusion as to the validity of eqn (7) in the field of
high stresses, i.e. low fatigue cycles. It will be shown
later in this work that, as also noted by other research-
ers,’ this is a very difficult task from an experimental
viewpoint, especially when composites characterised by
highly scattered monotonic properties are concerned.
In Ref. 4, the same methodologies followed in this
work were used to test the fatigue behaviour of a con-
tinuous random glass-fibre-reinforced thermosetting
4
0 R=O.l
0 R = 0.3
3
A R = 0.5
2
1
0
0 2 4 6 8
hi9
Fig. 3. Semi-log plot of the tcrrn on the left-hand side of eqn
(8), K,against number of cycles to failure, N.
 962 G. Caprino, A. D’Amore

0.8

0.4 ~ Present

----- [51

0.2
0 4 8 12 16 0 2 4 6
ND -1 LogN

Fig. 4. Plot for the evaluation of the constants (Y,/3appearing Fig. 5. Semi-log plot of the predicted fatigue lifetimes for the
in eqn (7). material tested in Ref. 4 and the present material. R=stress
ratio.

resin. It is important to recall that, in addition to the In Figs 6 and 7, two microphotographs of the fracture
different matrix type, also the fibre content was higher surfaces are shown of specimens tested at high and low
(Vr = 0.35) than the present (0.20) whereas the reinfor- load levels, at R=O.l. Some broken fibres are clearly
cement type was the same. The difference in fibre con- visible, and from their surfaces quite a poor fibre/matrix
tent can explain the static flexural strength measured in interface is inferred. Looking at the matrix, some loca-
Ref. 4 (290Nmm-*), much higher than the one char- lised zones of matrix yielding, more diffuse in the case of
acterising the present material (185 Nmmm2). The a! and high load, are observed. However, in general the intrin-
fi values calculated in Ref. 4 were 0.184 and 0.200, sic ductility of the resin appears to have been strongly
respectively. Unfortunately, the presence of two con- hindered by the constraint action of the reinforcement.
stants in eqn (7) renders difficult a direct comparison of This remark could explain the insensitivity of the fati-
different materials in terms of fatigue sensitivity. There- gued composite to the matrix ductility, previously
fore, a judgement can be given only on the basis of the noticed.
overall S-N curves. The basic hypothesis in developing the statistical
In Fig. 5, the predicted lifetimes for the two compo- model was the distribution of the monotonic flexural
sites under investigation are shown. Two stress ratios, strength according to a two-parameter Weibull dis-
R=O-1 and R=0.5, have been considered. It is seen tribution (eqn (9)). To assess this assumption, the results
that, despite of the difference in matrix type and fibre of the 15 monotonic tests were used to evaluate, by the
content, the materials exhibit approximately the same best-fit method, the characteristic strength, y, and the
fatigue behaviour. The present composite seems to offer shape parameter, 6. The values y = 193-3 Nmmp2 and
a slightly poorer response, but it is hard to accept this 6 = 11.80 were obtained, by which the distribution func-
statement on a sound basis, owing to the scatter of the tion was calculated and plotted in Fig. 8. The symbols
experimental data.
It may be wondered why an inherently ductile resin
like polypropylene results in a fatigue response similar
to that of a more brittle polymer, when adopted as
matrix in a composite. A possible answer can be given
by the observation of the fracture surfaces after fatigue
failure.
By contrast with the composite treated in Ref. 4, the
present material did not show extensive microcracking
before catastrophic failure. The final collapse was pro-
voked by a single crack, which apparently nucleated on
the surface subjected to tension, and propagated rapidly
during the last fatigue cycles, running approximately
perpendicular to the specimen length. Sometimes, some
buckling failures were revealed on the surface subjected
to compression, but there was no evidence of any inter-
action between them and the main crack in precipitating Fig. 6.Fracture surface after fatigue failure. Normalised
final failure. maximum stress (T,,-Jcro = 0.8; stress ratio R = 0.1.
 Flexural fatigue behaviour of random continuous-fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites 963

0.8

0.6

0
100 150 200 250

2
%(N/m )
Fig. 7.Fracture surface after fatigue failure. Normalised
maximum stress u,,Jao = 0.4. Stress ratio R =O.1. Fig. 8. Statistical distribution of the measured static strength,
CO.

represent the experimental data. In spite of some fluc-
tuation in the data points, resulting from the small
sample size, the correlation between theory and experi-
ments is sufficiently good, as witnessed also by the
coefficient of correlation, r =0.955. In order to assess
the statistical model, it is useful to solve eqn (7) for ~0,
obtaining:
00 = CON = %x3x . [1 + (Y. (1 - R)(NB - 1)] (18)
From a physical viewpoint, eqn (18) indicates that the
ultimate strength of the virgin material can be calcu-
lated from the fatigue life, N. The symbol oe~ has been
used in eqn (10) just to distinguish the calculated
strength from that, a~, directly measured in a static
characterisation test.
Of course, if the assumptions are valid, the calculated
values of flexural strength should exhibit the same sta-
tistical distribution found for co. By eqn (18), aslv was
evaluated for all the 35 specimens subjected to fatigue,
and the distribution function shown in Fig. 9 was
obtained. The solid line in the same figure represents the
Weibull distribution of 15 monotonic strength data,
already drawn in Fig. 8. It is observed that the correla-
tion between the measured and calculated monotonic
strength distribution is excellent.
It is important to note that not only the hypotheses
made in the statistical analysis, but also the assumptions
on which the fatigue model relies are involved in eqn
(18). Therefore, the results in Fig. 9 give further evi-
dence of the effectiveness of eqn (7).
The significance of the previous findings is in the fact
that, when an assigned probability of failure is required
in the design of a component subjected to fatigue, the
shape parameter and characteristic strength can be
evaluated by simple, quick static tests. Of course, a
minimum of fatigue tests will be necessary to obtain the
parameters (Y,p appearing in eqn (7). To reduce overall
testing time, low values of the stress ratio R can be
adopted in fatigue characterisation.
From eqn (14), the S-N bands having as a lower and
upper bound the 5% probability of survival and 95%
probability of survival curves, respectively, were calcu-
lated for the material under study. Two of these bands,
concerning R = 0.1 and R = O-5, are shown in Fig. 10.
From Fig. 10, it is seen that the fatigue behaviour at
high stresses is strongly influenced by the static strength.
Since the scatter in static strength is quite high, as often
happens for random-fibre-reinforced plastics, this
results in large variability in fatigue lifetime. For
instance, for an applied maximum stress
u max- 150 N mmP2, cycles to failure in the range N = 1
(static failure) to N - lo3 are expected, if R=O.l. If the
stress ratio is higher (R=0*5), the maximum number of
cycles at 95% probability level under the same loading
1
0.8
0.6
100 1.50 200 250
0,~ (N/mm’)
Fig. 9. Statistical distribution of the calculated static strength,
CON.
964 G. Caprino,
240 c
- R=O.l
----- RzO.5
60 -
0 ’ 1 I I I
0 2 4 6 8 as a result of the constraint exerted by the rein-
LogN
Fig. 10. Fatigue bands for two different values of the stress
ratio, R.
conditions becomes N 104. Therefore, the scatter in
fatigue behaviour at high stresses tends to increase with
increasing stress ratio. This observation highlights the
difficulty to interpret fatigue data obtained at low cycles
and high stress ratios, where static fatigue as well as
matrix yielding can contribute in precipitating final col-
lapse.
The form of the fatigue bands is such that also at high
cycles large scatters are expected. For R =0.5 and
(Tmax= 60 Nmmp2, the fatigue lifetime can undergo
variations from lo6 to more than 10’ cycles. This could
explain the run-outs frequently present in fatigue results
obtained at low applied stresses.
6 CONCLUSIONS
Monotonic and fatigue tests were carried out in four-
point bending on a random continuous-glass-fibre-rein-
forced polypropylene. The main objectives were: (a) to
assess a fatigue model previously proposed, explicitly
accounting for the effect of stress ratio on fatigue life;
(b) to verify the influence of matrix type on the fatigue
response of the composite; (c) to assess a statistical
model useful in design procedures based on probabil-
istic analyses. The results obtained support the conclu-
sion reported in the following:
l The model presented in Ref. 4 is applicable not
only to thermoset-, but also to thermoplastic-
matrix composites, provided the reinforcement is
in the form of continuous, randomly oriented
fibres. In fact, at the time no evidence exists that
the predictions of the formula are also valid for
short-fibre composites. However, the fatigue
behaviour of the material tested in this work seems
to be very similar to that reported for short-fibre
composites by other researchers, and, it is therefore
hoped that the model can have a more general
applicability.
A. D’Amore
Comparing the experimental data with previous
results from thermoset-based composites, it
appears that neither the fibre content nor the
matrix type sensibly affect the fatigue sensitivity.
As expected, the fibre content does influence the
flexural strength on an absolute scale. However,
the S-N curves approximately converge when the
maximum stress is normal&d with respect to the
static strength. This seems to depend on the beha-
viour of the matrix in situ. The observation of
fracture surfaces reveals that the intrinsic ductility
of polypropylene is lost in the composite, probably
forcement, which results in complex stress fields
under load.
The statistical approach proposed in this work,
assuming a statistical distribution of the static
strength according to a two-parameter Weibull
distribution, is in very good agreement with
experimental data. From the results discussed here,
it can be concluded that the scatter in fatigue lifetime
is determined by the scatter in monotonic strength.
The combination of the statistical model with the
fatigue model allows for a fatigue characterisation
based on a minimum of experimental tests.
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