High-Throughput Viscoelastic Testing for Composite Laminates

Composites are excellent material candidates for large deployable spacecraft structures. Prior to deployment in space, these structures are stowed in the furled configuration for prolonged periods. The mechanical response of composite laminates used in these structures is greatly influenced by the viscoelasticity of the polymer matrix. Characterization of viscoelastic properties is time-consuming because of the necessity to test at multiple temperatures and stress levels. The present study reports an experimental method for testing viscoelastic composites with high data output. The proposed method utilizes an imposed stress variation on the laminates and measures the time histories of the corresponding strain fields using the full-field technique digital image correlation. The proposed method dramatically reduces testing efforts by producing a large amount of data in a single experiment.