Polymer-reinforced composite materials offer significant advantages over metals, including multifunctionality, lightweight characteristics, and resistance to corrosion.
While corrosion is not a concern with these materials, other degradation mechanisms can arise under in-service conditions.
For instance, in marine and aerospace applications, humidity can have detrimental effects on the mechanical performance of structures over time.
Additionally, dynamic loads, such as those from bird or hail strikes, present further challenges that need to be addressed.
This seminar will address two critical challenges: (i) the degradation of mechanical properties of composites due to humidity exposure, and (ii) the strain rate-dependent behaviour of these materials.
A micromechanical modelling framework was developed from the experimental results.
This framework has proven effective in capturing and predicting the adverse effects caused by prolonged exposure to humidity.
