Tensile testing and damage analysis of woven glass-cloth/epoxy laminates at low temperature

In order to evaluate the tensile properties of SL-ES30 glass-cloth/epoxy laminates for superconducting magnets in fusion energy systems, tensile tests were examined both experimentally and analytically. The tensile tests were conducted in accordance with JIS K 7054 at room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K). The general specimen geometry was a rectangular dog-bone shape with constant gage length, but with each specimen size having a different specimen width. The experimental finding provides the data for analytical modeling. The model utilizes two damage variables which are determined from experimental data. A finite element method coupled with damage was adopted for the extensional analysis. The effects of temperature, specimen geometry and gripping method on the tensile properties are examined