Temperature-Dependent Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Polymeric Laminated Beams

Polymeric composite laminates are being increasingly employed to fabricate parts which must be designed to operate successfully in dynamic mechanical environments under various temperatures. Current computer-aided design tools are, however, generally restricted to the modeling of these materials at ambient room temperatures. In order to develop a set of experimental data for evaluating the predictive capabilities of new computer-aided design tools for predicting the elastodynamic response of engineering structural components operating under different temperature regimes, an experimental program was undertaken to study the elastodynamic response of E-glass/Epon cantilever specimens and AS-4 graphite/Epon cantilever specimens subjected to discrete ambient temperatures in the range of −10°F to 300°F at a constant relative humidity of 75 percent. Design charts demonstrating the variation of damping and the dynamic longitudinal elastic modulus were then plotted as a function of temperature for these specimens.