Abstract This study reports on the effects of water absorption on the anisotropic mechanical response of an epoxy resin reinforced with E-glass fibres. Composite specimens were conditioned by immersion in pure water at 50 °C for different time durations, up to full saturation. Water-saturation resulted in reduction of stiffness and strength, in the range of strain rate 0.001–700s−1. Experiments on re-dried specimens after water saturation showed a limited recoverability of the original mechanical properties. Water absorption increased the sensitivity of the mechanical response of the GFRPs to the applied strain rate. Finite element simulations of the response of a unit cell of the unidirectional composite were performed to understand the role of the hygroscopic stresses induced by water absorption, and it was found that this is negligible due to the active mechanisms of viscoelastic relaxation.

中文翻译：

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吸水率对GFRPs力学性能的影响

摘要 本研究报告了吸水对无碱玻璃纤维增​​强环氧树脂各向异性机械响应的影响。通过在 50°C 的纯水中浸泡不同的时间来调节复合样品，直至完全饱和。水饱和导致刚度和强度降低，应变率在 0.001-700s-1 范围内。水饱和后重新干燥样品的实验表明，原始机械性能的可恢复性有限。吸水增加了 GFRP 对施加的应变率的机械响应的敏感性。对单向复合材料的晶胞响应进行了有限元模拟，以了解吸水引起的吸湿应力的作用，