Durability of glass fibre reinforced composites experimental methods and results

Even today a main topic of consideration for glass-fibre reinforced cementitious composites is the durability. Several damage mechanisms occur if glass fibres are inserted in a cementitious mixture. To diminish chemical attack of the fibres by hydroxyl ions, inorganic phosphate cement (IPC) was developed at the 'Vrije Universiteit Brussel', providing a non-alkaline environment. Since chemical attack is diminished by application of this non-alkaline matrix, IPC is an ideal reference material to study other damage mechanisms. In this paper typical damage mechanisms, occurring in cementitious composites are studied: both the effects of constant environmental loading (typical accelerated ageing tests) and variable environmental loading are studied. A new method to determine the matrix-fibre bundle efficiency is also introduced.