Effects of temperature and moisture on the mechanical properties of composite material

An experiment was done to determine the effects of temperature and moisture condition on the mechanical properties of the bismaleimide (BMI). The flexural strength of BMI composites specimens was tested under different temperatures and saturated conditions, and the creeping of the BMI composites specimens was tested under different temperatures. Three points bending test was carried out and the result data were used to plot graphs of the maximum flexure stress versus time and elongation versus time to compare the mechanical properties of BMI composite in different temperature and moisture conditions. The maximum flexure stress will decrease when the temperature decreases and the maximum flexure stress of dry BMI samples was always higher than wet BMI samples at any temperatures. The ductility of the BMI samples also increased when the temperature rises. The creeping rate in higher temperature BMI samples was higher compare to low temperature BMI samples. The experiment yield positive results. The results showed that the maximum flexure stress of BMI composites decreases when the temperature rises. Besides, the maximum flexure stress of BMI composites in moisture condition was always lower than the BMI composites in dry condition at any temperatures. In addition, the ductility of the BMI composites increases as the temperature increases. However, the creeping rate in high and low temperature was same but the maximum elongation in high temperature is higher.Bachelor of Engineering (Aerospace Engineering