Effect of Strain Rate on Mechanical Properties of Reinforced Polyolefins

This paper deals with results of high-speed tensile tests on glass-fibre reinforced thermoplastic materials. Starting point of the investigations is the fact, that requirements for a modern material have been steadily increased. One reason here is the increasing use of computer-aided design over the past years. Especially for the automotive industry, not only the mechanical properties as results of quasi-static tests are of interest. According to EuroNCAP crash tests, strain rates up to 200 s

−1

can be observed in the region of crash boxes at 64 km/h initial speed (Fig. 1a) [

1

,

2

]. Therefore, it is necessary to perform dynamic tests with strain rates up to maximum values of 10

4

–10

6

s

−1

[

3

,

4

]. For example, with commercially available servo-hydraulic testing machines strain rates between 10

−3

to 10

3

s

−1

can be realized (Fig. 1b).