Effect of manufacturing environments on the shear properties of glass/epoxy composite laminate

Abstract

The wet lay-up process is widely applied in diverse environments to the field repair of composite airframes. The main purpose of this study is to experimentally investigate the effect of wet lay-up environments on the shear properties of a glass-epoxy composite laminate. The environments included three different temperatures (4~9, 18~24, and 36~40 °C), three relative humidity conditions (0~20, 30~60, and 80~100%), and the effect of vacuum bagging. Results showed that while the shear modulus and strength do not vary significantly in the given temperature and humidity ranges, the laminate properties resulting from the use of vacuum bagging during the process increase by up to 8% compared to the properties with no vacuum bagging. ? 2012 American Scientific Publishers. All rights reserved.