Compression creep rupture behavior of a glass/vinyl ester composite subject to isothermal and one-sided heat flux conditions

Given the expanding applications of polymer matrix composites to civil infrastructure, the marine industry, and the military, we examine the compression creep rupture behavior of a glass/vinyl ester composite subject to combined load and one sided heating simulating fire exposure. We focus on reversible non-linear viscoelastic effects which dominate delayed failure at lower temperatures in the vicinity of the glass transition temperature. A compression strength model which predicts local compression failure due to micro-buckling is extended to include viscoelasticity. Times to failure under combined mechanical load and one sided heating are estimated to within an order of magnitude.