Characterization of bi-axial fatigue resistance of short glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic cruciform specimen

Abstract : Finite element simulations were conducted to validate a posteriori the cruciform design. Using isotropic linear elastic material, simulations of equi-biaxial tensile loading shown that most of the requirements detailed above were fulfilled. Cruciform specimens of homogeneous and isotropic thermoplastic matrix and cruciform specimens of short glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite have been machined in injected plates. Biaxial tensile tests have been performed on Intron biaxial device. Fatigue tests were load controlled. The displacement field in the biaxially loaded zone was measured by Digital Image Correlation (DIC) using a micro camera. An Infrared camera has been added to the experimental set-up in order to measure the surface temperature variation of the test zone of interest, synchronized with the micro camera.