DIC controlled tensile creep behavior of glass fiber reinforced epoxy composites

This study aims to investigation of digital image correlation (DIC) technique application to measure the time-dependent strain distribution under creep behavior of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites. A plain-woven glass fiber fabric reinforced epoxy was produced and creep behavior were characterized by considering the effects of fiber orientation. First, the 0°, 30°, 45°, and 60° oriented samples were tested under tensile loading conditions to see the force – displacement behavior of GFRP. Then, same geometry of samples was used to test creep behavior under tensile conditions. The 50% of the ultimate stress for each fiber orientation was set for the creep test. The DIC technique is used to measure the creep strain at various loads at room temperature. The DIC application for creating strain maps showed that the fiber orientation has significant effect on creep, especially for 45°sample due to shear-based deformation. Overall, the DIC technique presented accurate and practical results on time dependent strain behavior of GFRP composites under constant load.