Gao G and Li Y (2016) Mechanical properties of Emerging Materials Research

woven glass fiber-reinforced polymer

composites. Emerging Materials Research, Research Article
Received 11/03/2016 Accepted 03/08/2016
http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/jemmr.16.00018
Keywords: composite materials/mechanical properties/polymeric materials

ice | science ICE Publishing: All rights reserved

Mechanical properties of
woven glass fiber-reinforced
polymer composites
Guangfa Gao* Yongchi Li
Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science Professor, Department of Modern Mechanics, University of Science and
and Technology, Nanjing, China; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technology of China, Hefei, China
National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

The mechanical properties of a woven glass fiber-reinforced polymer composite were investigated in quasi-static
compression and tension tests. The composite being regarded as a transversely isotropic material, compression tests
in the normal and tangent directions and tension tests in the tangent direction were conducted. The investigation
indicates that the composite is an elasto-brittle material, and its compressive failure strength is significantly greater
than its tensile strength. A positive strain rate effect on the compressive behavior in the normal direction was
discovered. The experimental results show that failure stresses and strains of the composite in the normal direction
are all significantly greater than those in the tangent direction at different strain rates. For the polymer, shear
failure is the dominant failure mode in quasi-static uniaxial compressive loading. In the process of compressive
loading in normal direction, the interaction strengthened gradually. The fiber with greater tensile strength
contributed more to compressive strength in the normal direction than that in the tangent direction. However, in
the elastic stage, the deformation was so small that the polymer played a dominant role in this process. Thus, the
Young’s moduli of the composites in the two directions were similar.

1. Introduction Compared with other composites, glass fiber-reinforced

In view of their good mechanical strengths, low densities and
excellent corrosion resistance, polymer matrix composites are
growing in popularity as a replacement for conventional materials
in civil infrastructure, construction and marine applications.1,2 A
wider choice of materials and ease of manufacturing make them
ideal for engineering applications.3 Furthermore, fiber-reinforced
composites have many excellent characteristics such as high
specific tensile and compressive strength, controllable electrical
conductivity and low coefficient of thermal expansion, good fatigue
resistance and suitability for the production of complex shape
materials. Owing to these favorable properties, fiber-reinforced
composites have become the alternatives to conventional structural
materials such as steel, wood or metals in many applications.4 In
particular, glass fiber is a lightweight, strong and robust material.5
Although its strength properties are somewhat lower than those of
carbon fiber, glass fiber is typically far less brittle and much less
expensive.6,7 Due to these excellent properties, glass fiber has been
used in several industries. In essence, fibrous composites consist of
two or more phases: a high-strength and high-stiffness fiber
reinforcement phase and a matrix phase. The matrix phase holds the
material together as a cohesive system, which protects the fibers
and transfers load between fibers.8,9 Due to their good combination
of these properties, glass fiber-reinforced polymer composites are
used particularly in the automotive and aircraft industries, defense,
spaceships and sea vehicles.10–13
composites have the virtues of a large technology base and
experience in service. Thus, they can offer the most reliable
engineering materials.14 These fibers can be woven in certain
patterns, and then the desired material properties as per design
requirements are obtained.15 Because of their unique
architectural features, ease of handling, low fabrication cost and
excellent mechanical properties, woven fabric composites have
been finding increasing applications in aerospace, automobile
structures and equipment for superconducting magnets.14,16,17
In the field of materials testing, the reliable, reproducible quantitative
characterization of physical properties, in particular mechanical
properties, is a problem. At the same time, this is also a particular
challenge.18 In general, polymer composites reinforced with the
fibers are usually one to four times stronger and stiffer than their
unfilled matrices.19 The compressive and tensile responses of glass
fiber-reinforced polymer composites, including those of woven glass
fiber-reinforced polymer composites, have been the subjects of
continued investigation.1,14,15,17,20–33 Many factors influence the
compressive and tensile behavior of woven glass fiber-reinforced
polymer composite materials – for example the material used, type of
weave,24 fabric geometry,4 fiber volume fraction,29 laminate
configuration,16 void content and woven linear density,22 in which
the most important factors are the mechanical properties of the fiber
and the matrix.

*Corresponding author e-mail address: gfgao@ustc.edu.cn

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 Emerging Materials Research Mechanical properties of woven glass
fiber-reinforced polymer composites
Gao and Li

The present work focuses on the mechanical properties of a

woven glass fiber-reinforced polymer composite. In this study,
compression tests were carried out to investigate the response of Normal
the composite in the tangent and normal directions (parallel to and
perpendicular to the woven glass fiber lamination) at the strain
rates from 10−4 to 10−1 s−1; the tensile properties of the composite
were examined in the tangent direction (parallel to the woven
glass fiber lamination) at the strain rates of 10−3 and 10−4 s−1.

2. Materials and methods

2.1 Materials Tangent
In this work, a woven glass-fiber-reinforced polymer matrix
composite was experimentally investigated. The composite
contains the layers of plain woven glass fibers and polymer as
shown in Figure 1. In this composite, the glass fiber clothes were
stacked together layer by layer, and then the polymer was added
in. The glass fiber cloth is a kind of alkaline fiberglass fabric
which was woven in two perpendicular directions. The diameters
Figure 2. Sketch of transversely isotropic composite
of the glass fibers are 12–23 µm. The polymer is a kind of resin
which was used as the matrix material for the composite. The
density of the composite is 1·69 g/cm3. In this investigation, the
specimens and tension specimens shown in Figure 3. The
composite is regarded as a kind of transversely isotropic material
dimensions of these specimens are shown in Figure 4.
as shown in Figure 2, which is isotropic on the normal plane (the
plane parallel to the woven glass fiber layers).
3. Results and discussion
2.2 Tests and specimens 3.1 Results of compression tests in normal direction
In this work, the compressive properties and tensile properties of The compression tests in the normal direction were conducted on an
the woven glass fiber-reinforced composite were experimentally MTS 809 machine. In this work, the quasi-static (strain rates are lower
investigated. Two kinds of specimens for the tests, in different than 10−1 s−1) compressive properties of the glass fiber-reinforced
directions, were all cut from the same samples. The composite polymer composite in the normal direction at four different strain rates
being a transversely isotropic material, its mechanical properties (10−1, 10−2, 10−3 and 10−4 s−1) were investigated.
in the tangent direction are different from those in the normal
direction (as shown in Figure 2). However, in theory, the tensile As shown in Figure 5, the compressive response includes three
properties of the composite in the normal direction are similar stages. Firstly, the stress rises slowly with increase in strain. Then,
to those of the polymer matrix, and the woven glass fiber the stress increases rapidly with increase in strain when the strain
makes a difference only in the tangent direction. Therefore, the is above 0·7% until the material fails when the strain is around
compression tests, in both the normal and tangent directions, and 6%. In these tests, the composite appears to have been subjected
the tension tests, in the tangent direction, for the composite were to brittle fracture, and the failure stresses vary from 380·15 to
conducted at different loading velocities. 492·31 MPa at different strain rates (Figure 5 and Table 1).

All tests were conducted on an MTS 809 machine. In these As shown in Figure 6 and Table 1, the failure stress rises with
tests, the material was cut into the corresponding compression increase in strain rate, which can be described as a positive strain rate

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1. Woven glass-fiber-reinforced polymer composite. (a) Woven

glass-fiber-reinforced composite; (b) woven glass fibers; (c) polymer

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 Emerging Materials Research
(a)
Figure 3. Specimens in tests. (a) Specimen in compression tests in
normal direction; (b) specimen in compression tests in tangent
direction; (c) specimen in tension tests in tangent direction
Compression
H = 9·5 mm
D = 8 mm
D = 8 mm
(a) (b)
Figure 4. Dimensions of specimens in tests. (a) Compression tests
specimen in normal direction; (b) compression tests specimen in
tangent direction; (c) tension tests specimen in tangent direction
effect. However, there is no significant relationship between the
failure strain and the strain rate. The difference in the compressive
properties of the composite between the strain rates of 10−3 and 10−4
s−1 is slight, similar to the difference between those at strain rates of
10−1 and 10−2 s−1. But the difference between the two sets of strain
rates (10−3 and 10−4 against 10−2 and 10−1 s−1) is significant.
The average values of the compressive properties in the normal
direction were taken as shown in Table 1. The Young’s modulus
of the composite in the normal direction is 8·23 GPa, and the
failure stress and the corresponding failure strain are 437·64 MPa
and 6·3%, respectively.
3.2 Results of compression tests in tangent direction
Similar to compression tests in the normal direction, the
compressive properties of the composite in the tangent direction at
four different strain rates (10−1, 10−2, 10−3 and 10−4 s−1) were also
investigated on the MTS 809 machine. As shown in Figure 7, the
compressive stress–strain curves also include three stages, but the
data are more dispersive than those in the normal direction.
As shown in Figures 7 and 8, the compressive failure stresses and
failure strains in the tangent direction are significantly less than
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Mechanical properties of woven glass
fiber-reinforced polymer composites
Gao and Li
(b) (c)
Compression
H = 10 mm
L1= 60 mm H = 14 mm
Tension H1 = 6 mm
R = 20 mm
L = 115 mm
Width = 2·5 mm
(c)
those in the normal direction under the same strain rate, while the
Young’s moduli for the two directions are close. With increase
in strain rate, the failure stresses have no significant change.
Except for curve 2, for the strain rate of 10−2 s−1 (Figure 8), the
failure strains also have no significant difference between different
strain rates.
The average values of the compressive properties in the tangent
direction were taken (shown in Table 2). As shown in Table 2, the
Young’s modulus of the composite in the tangent direction is
10·37 GPa. The failure stress and the corresponding failure strain
are 153·29 MPa and 1·9%, respectively.
As noted earlier, the compression failure stresses and failure strain,
under different strain rates, in the tangent direction are significantly
less than the corresponding values in the normal direction. The
main reason is the difference in the role of woven glass fiber ‘cloth’
between the two loading directions. Figure 9 shows the crack
shapes in two specimens under quasi-static compression loading in
two directions. As can be seen from the two graphs, almost all
layers of the glass fiber cloth are working to prevent the cracks
from propagating in the normal loading direction (Figure 9(a)),
while a small part of the cloth is involved in the anticrack function
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 Emerging Materials Research Mechanical properties of woven glass
fiber-reinforced polymer composites
Gao and Li

3 2 7
500 500
Specimen 1 Specimen 6 10
4
Specimen 2 Specimen 7 6 8
400 400
Stress, σ : MPa

Stress, σ : MPa
Specimen 3 Specimen 8
Specimen 4
1 Specimen 9
5 9
Specimen 5 Specimen 10
300 300
Specimen Failure stress: MPa Failure strain Specimen Failure stress: MPa Failure strain
200 1 483·19 0·062 200 6 439·86 0·057
2 492·16 0·062 7 454·67 0·059
3 492·31 0·061 8 466·47 0·06
100 100
4 485·35 0·061 9 444·19 0·057
5 484·93 0·061 10 471·08 0·062
0 0
0·00 0·02 0·04 0·06 0·08 0·10 0·00 0·02 0·04 0·06 0·08 0·10
Strain, ε Strain, ε
(a) (b)

500 500
Specimen 11 15
Specimen 16
Specimen 12 14 Specimen 17 18
Specimen 13 13 19
400 Specimen 14 11 400 Specimen 18
12 Specimen 19 17
Stress, σ: MPa

Stress, σ : MPa

Specimen 15 Specimen 20 20
16
300 300

Specimen Failure stress: MPa Failure strain Specimen Failure stress: MPa Failure strain
200 200 16 380·15 0·063
11 405·63 0·064
12 431·04 0·068 17 390·02 0·064
100 13 440·29 0·067 100 18 392·57 0·062
14 434·02 0·063 19 404·61 0·065
15 433·51 0·066 20 361·16 0·062
0 0
0·00 0·02 0·04 0·06 0·08 0·10 0·00 0·02 0·04 0·06 0·08 0·10
Strain, ε Strain, ε
(c) (d)

Figure 5. Engineering stress–strain curves in compression tests in

normal direction. (a) Strain rate = 10−1 s−1; (b) strain rate = 10−2 s−1;
(c) strain rate = 10−3 s−1; (d) strain rate = 10−4 s−1

working so in the tangent direction (Figure 9(b)). Furthermore, the
compression, shear and tension strengths of the glass fibers are
significantly higher than those of the polymer.
3.3 Results of tension tests
In the tension tests, the shape and dimensions of the specimens
are shown in Figures 3(c) and 4(c). The tensile properties of the
composite at strain rates of 10−3 and 10−4 s−1 were investigated.
As shown in Figure 10, the tensile response can also be divided
into three stages: elastic tensile stage (strain is less than about
0·2%), damage softening stage (strain is less than about 0·7%)
and fracture stage (strain is greater than about 0·7%).
Under quasi-static tensile loading, the Young’s moduli, failure
stresses and failure strains all have no obvious change with
increase in strain rate (as shown in Figure 11). The tensile failure
stress and the corresponding failure strain of the composite are
much less than the compressive failure stress and failure strain in
the tangent direction.
The average values of the tensile properties in the tangent
direction were taken as shown in Table 3. The tensile Young’s
modulus of the composite in the tangent direction is 16·92 GPa.
The failure stress and the corresponding failure strain are
84·84 MPa and 0·7%, respectively.

Young’s modulus: Failure stress: MPa Failure strain

Strain rate: s−1
GPa Max. Min. Average Max. Min. Average
−1
10 9·22 492·31 483·19 486·99 ± 6 0·062 0·061 0·062 ± 0·01
10−2 9·05 471·08 439·86 447·33 ± 24 0·062 0·057 0·058 ± 0·04
10−3 7·32 440·29 405·63 426·99 ± 21 0·068 0·064 0·067 ± 0·03
10−4 7·33 404·61 380·15 389·26 ±15 0·065 0·062 0·064 ± 0·02
Average 8·23 437·64 0·063

Table 1. Compressive properties in normal direction

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 Emerging Materials Research Mechanical properties of woven glass
fiber-reinforced polymer composites
Gao and Li

200
500 Strain rate = 10–1 s–1 1 Strain rate = 10–1 s–1
Strain rate = 10–2 s–1 Strain rate = 10–2 s–1
Strain rate = 10–3 s–1 1
3 Strain rate = 10–3 s–1
400 Strain rate = 10–4 s–1 2 Strain rate = 10–4 s–1
150 3
Stress, σ : MPa

Stress, σ : MPa
4
4 2
300
100
200 Number Young’s modulus: Failure stress: Failure strain
GPa MPa
1 9·22 486·99 0·062 Number Young’s modulus: Failure stress: Failure strain
2 9·05 447·33 0·058 GPa MPa
100 3 7·33 426·99 0·067
50 1 10·32 162·58 0·019
4 389·26 2 13·12 147·26 0·015
7·32 0·064
3 8·60 152·19 0·021
Average 8·23 437·64 0·063
4 9·43 151·12 0·019
0 Average 10·37 153·29 0·019
0·00 0·02 0·04 0·06 0·08 0·10 0
0·000 0·005 0·010 0·015 0·020 0·025 0·030
Strain, ε
Strain, ε

Figure 6. Average stress–strain curves in the compression tests in the

Figure 8. Average stress–strain curves in compression tests in tangent
normal direction at different strain rates
direction at different strain rates

Specimen Failure stress: MPa Failure strain Specimen Failure stress: MPa Failure strain
200 21 180·24 0·019
22 200 25 169·90 0·015
22 165·07 0·020 26 130·13 0·013
21
23 190·17 0·020
24 141·00 0·020 25
Stress, σ : MPa

Stress, σ : MPa

150 150
23
26
24
100 100

Specimen 21 Specimen 25
50 Specimen 22 50
Specimen 26
Specimen 23
Specimen 24

0 0
0·000 0·005 0·010 0·015 0·020 0·025 0·000 0·005 0·010 0·015 0·020 0·025
Strain, ε Strain, ε
(a) (b)

Specimen Failure stress: MPa Failure strain Specimen Failure stress: MPa Failure strain
27 156·56 0·022
200 200 32 153·26 0·019
28 151·24 0·023
29 164·85 0·021 33 149·76 0·019
30 174·72 0·024 29
Stress, σ : MPa

Stress, σ : MPa

31
150 31 164·60 0·025 150 32
28
27 33
30
100 100

Specimen 27
50 Specimen 28 50
Specimen 29 Specimen 32
Specimen 30 Specimen 33
Specimen 31
0 0
0·000 0·005 0·010 0·015 0·020 0·025 0·030 0·000 0·005 0·010 0·015 0·020 0·025 0·030
Strain, ε Strain, ε
(c) (d)

Figure 7. Engineering stress–strain curves in the compression tests in

the tangent direction. (a) Strain rate = 10−1 s−1; (b) strain rate = 10−2
s−1; (c) strain rate = 10−3 s−1; (d) strain rate = 10−4 s−1

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 Emerging Materials Research Mechanical properties of woven glass
fiber-reinforced polymer composites
Gao and Li

Young’s modulus: Failure stress: MPa Failure strain

Strain rate: s−1
GPa Max. Min. Average Max. Min. Average
−1
10 10·32 190·17 141·00 162·58 ± 28 0·020 0·019 0·019 ± 0·01
10−2 13·12 169·90 130·13 147·26 ± 22 0·015 0·013 0·015 ± 0·02
10−3 8·60 174·72 151·24 152·19 ± 22 0·025 0·021 0·021 ± 0·04
10−4 9·43 153·26 149·76 151·12 ± 2 0·019 0·019 0·019 ± 0·00
Average 10·37 153·29 0·019

Table 2. Compressive properties in tangent direction

100 Strain rate = 10–3 s–1

Strain rate = 10–4 s–1 1

80
Stress, σ : MPa
2

60

40
(a) (b) Number
Young’s modulus: Failure stress:
Failure strain
GPa MPa
20 1 16·18 87·43 0·007
2 17·65 82·25 0·007
Figure 9. Crack shapes in specimens under quasi-static compression
Average 16·92 84·84 0·007
loading. (a) In normal direction; (b) in tangent direction 0
0·000 0·002 0·004 0·006 0·008 0·010
Strain, ε
4. Conclusions
The focus of this paper is the study of the mechanical properties Figure 11. Average stress–strain curves in the tension tests in the
of a woven glass fiber-reinforced polymer composite, which is tangent direction at different strain rates
regarded as a transversely isotropic material. Compression tests in
the normal direction and in the tangent direction and tension tests
in the tangent direction were conducted. On the basis of the tangent direction, the tensile failure stress (84·84 MPa) and
investigation conducted, the following main conclusions can be the corresponding failure strain (0·7%) are much less than the
drawn. compressive failure stress (153·92 MPa) and the
corresponding failure strain (1·9%).
■ This composite is an elasto-brittle material. In the loading ■ For strain rates spanning from 10−4 to 10−1 s−1, compressive
process in all directions, the composite failed and lost its behavior in normal direction of the material have the strain
strength only by undergoing quasi-linear elastic deformation, rate effect that the average failure stresses increase from
and there was no appreciable plastic deformation. In the 389·26 to 486·99 MPa with increase in strain rate. But

100 100
Specimen 37
Specimen 34 39
35 Specimen 38
Specimen 35 37
80 Specimen 39
Specimen 36 34 80
Stress, σ : MPa

Stress, σ : MPa

36 38
60 60

40 40
Specimen Failure stress: MPa Failure strain
Specimen Failure stress: MPa Failure strain
20 34 82·80 0·007
20 37 82·48 0·007
35 90·62 0·008
38 75·47 0·006
36 83·21 0·007
39 87·36 0·007
0
0·000 0·002 0·004 0·006 0·008 0·010 0
0·000 0·002 0·004 0·006 0·008 0·010
Strain, ε Strain, ε
(a) (b)

Figure 10. Stress–strain curves in tension tests in tangent direction.

(a) Strain rate = 10−3 s−1; (b) strain rate = 10−4 s−1

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 Emerging Materials Research Mechanical properties of woven glass
fiber-reinforced polymer composites
Gao and Li

Young’s modulus: Failure stress: MPa Failure strain

Strain rate: s−1
GPa Max. Min. Average Max. Min. Average
−3
10 16·18 90·62 82·80 87·43 ± 5 0·008 0·007 0·007 ± 0·01
10−4 17·65 87·36 75·47 82·25 ± 7 0·007 0·006 0·007 ± 0·01
Average 16·92 84·84 0·007

Table 3. Tensile properties in tangent direction

compressive and tensile behaviors in the tangent direction Science Foundation (Grant Number 2011M501057) and
have no obvious strain rate effect. Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant
■ The compressive failure stress (437·64 MPa) and the Number 30915118801).
corresponding failure strain (6·3%) in the normal direction are
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