Characterizing and Modeling Lightweight Structural Composites at High Strain Rates for use from Arctic to Desert Environments

In this work, triaxial carbon fiber – epoxy composite laminates were manufactured and tested to determine the influence of environmental temperature and strain rate on the mechanical properties, and finite element models were developed to understand how those temperature and strain rate dependent trends may influence performance in a military ground vehicle application. As environmental temperature increased, the strength and elastic modulus were observed to decrease. Across all three environmental temperatures tested in this study, as the strain rate increased, tensile strength and elastic modulus were observed to increase as well. When applied to a composite hat section geometry, the finite element results highlighted the importance of considering both the environmental temperature and loading rate in the design of composite structures for use in military ground vehicles.