A MICROMECHANICS MODEL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS CORROSION IN GFRP

Understanding the mechanisms of environmental stress corrosion is very important for assessing the durability and damage tolerance predictions of composites using glass as the main reinforcement. A mechanistic model describing these mechanisms for unidirectional GFRP in tension is described. The model is based both on the chemical behaviour of glass, and in particular that of glass flaws, and on more recent models of stress corrosion. These were combined with fracture mechanics, the shear lag theory, and a probability model for flaw size. The results are very encouraging. The model shows that it is possible to obtain mechanisms of GFRP breakdown, which corresponds to observed experimental behaviour.