Creep Response of Neat and Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced PEEK and Epoxy Determined Using a Micromechanical Model

A micromechanical model is developed to study the creep phenomena with neat and carbon-fiber-reinforced PEEK (Polyetheretherketon) and epoxy. The model considers that the continuous elastic circular fibers form a regular array inside the matrix material. In this study, the fibers are considered to be linear elastic and anisotropic, while the matrix has a nonlinear viscoelastic behavior. The approach describes the time-dependent response of unidirectional viscoelastic composites subjected to various types of loading conditions. A comparison between the finite element analysis and the proposed micromechanical model shows a good agreement. Experimental tests validate the results obtained using the proposed theoretical model.