ISSN: 0884-6804
CODEN: JCTRER
Page Count: 7

Long-Term Characteristics of Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Under Mechanical Stress and an Acidic Environment
De Tourreil, C
Research engineer and senior researcher, Hydro Quebec Research Institute, Quebec

Koyama, M
Research engineer and senior researcher, Hydro Quebec Research Institute, Quebec

Abstract

Glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GRP) rods are used in the manufacture of composite insulators for high voltage transmission lines. Should they come in contact with an acid solution their strength can be drastically reduced and the insulator may be unable to perform. Bending and tension tests are used to evaluate the long-term performance of GRP in contact with dilute sulfuric acid. The crack propagation velocity da/dt depends on the stress intensity factor K^I. In both bending and tension tests the crack growth velocity is a linear function of KIn where the exponent n = 3.1. In both bending and tension tests, the total fracture time may be separated into an incubation time t¹ and a propagation time t² given by tf = t¹ + t² = (C¹/pm) + [C²H( )/pn] where p is applied load, C¹, C², m, and n are constants, and H( ) is a constant that can be calculated from the initial crack length and the critical crack length.

Keywords:
glass fiber-reinforced plastics, composite materials, acid rain, insulation

Paper ID: CTR10304J
DOI: 10.1520/CTR10304J
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