Uniaxial tensile tests and dynamic mechanical analysis of satin weave reinforced epoxy shape memory polymer composite

The tensile strength and breaking elongation of warp specimens were comparable with those of weft specimens. The increment of elastic modulus and hysteresis loop areas became smaller with loading cycles, meaning that cyclic tests could obtain approximate stable mechanical properties. For dynamic mechanical properties, glass transition temperature (Tg) obtained from storage modulus curves was lower than that determined from tan delta curves and Tgs in the warp and weft directions were similar (29.4 °C vs 29.7 °C). Moreover, the storage modulus in response to Tg was two orders of magnitude less than that with respect to low temperature, which demonstrated the easy processibility of epoxy SMPCs near glass transition temperature. In general, this study could provide useful observations and basic mechanical properties of new epoxy SMPCs.