Fatigue damage analysis of aluminized glass fiber composites

Aluminized glass fiber composite with epoxy and polyester matrix were used in this work in order to study fatigue properties and its comparison to conventional glass fiber composites. Until now aluminized glass fiber materials have been only used as decoy flares in military applications. The innovative advantages of these composites, using modified fibers, are potentially the improvement of thermal and electrical conduction. The main objective of this work was to study the fatigue damage of coated fiber materials using stiffness loss and potential drop techniques. The failure mechanisms were analyzed using microscopy. Fiber contents and the resin effects in the fatigue strength were also tested and discussed.