Probabilistic fatigue life modelling of FRP composites

Abstract

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have been used in industries such as aerospace, marine transportation, and wind energy for several decades prior to attracting widespread attention for applications in civil engineering. While limited data is available on the long term fatigue performance of FRP materials for construction projects, it is worthwhile to review the extensive work done in other engineering disciplines and consider the lessons learned. In particular, the probabilistic nature of the fatigue life of composite materials under cyclic stresses has been captured by various models presented in literature; although the contextual parameters may differ, their use may extend to other applications. In this work, the Sendeckyj wear-out model based on the strength-life-equal-rank assumption is applied to fatigue data from a variety of material types and configurations intended for building projects. The results presented show that the model is versatile and can be calibrated to describe the probabilistic nature of both the static and fatigue response of FRP composite materials for various applications.