Abstract

Composite materials are used in a vast number of areas. Typical areas of use are in aircraft, space, and marine applications. Due to the nature of these applications, the materials may be exposed to various conditions which can inhibit their performance. Factors such as moisture and temperature are constantly changing, and measures must be taken to fully understand how environmental variations effect the performance of the components. Physical damage is also regularly encountered in these harsh environments as well as throughout the manufacturing and assembly of the products. The focus of this research is to explore and quantify the effects which these damage types have on the tensile strength of 7781/E-795 bi-directional E-glass/epoxy composite laminates after an environmental exposure. Orthogonal arrays and Taguchi Techniques were used to accomplish this task in an efficient, repeatable, and well structured manner. An exposure time/tensile strength predictive model is also developed which can be used to simulate and test material performance in an operational environment.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Composite materials--Fracture--Prevention--Mathematical models; Laminated materials--Fracture--Prevention--Mathematical models; Strength of materials--Mathematical models; Taguchi methods (Quality control)

Publication Date

1997

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

- Please Select One -

Department, Program, or Center

Mechanical Engineering (KGCOE)

Advisor

Scanlon, M.

Comments

Physical copy available through RIT's The Wallace Library at: NB1930.D3672001 Note: imported from RIT’s Digital Media Library running on DSpace to RIT Scholar Works in February 2014.

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

MECE-MS

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