Thermo-mechanical correlations to erosion performance of short carbon fibre reinforced vinyl ester resin composites

Research highlights: → Composite with 30 wt.% of short carbon fibres exhibit highest energy dissipation. → Optimum erosion resistance conditions have been found. → A direct correlation emerged between erosive wear rate and loss-modulus inverse. → Mechanistic equivalence between erosion and dynamic loading modes is established. -- Abstract: Thermo-mechanical properties and erosion performance of short carbon fibre reinforced vinyl ester resin based isotropic polymer composites with four different fibre weight fractions have been investigated. The storage, loss and damping characteristics were analysed to assess the energy absorption/viscous recoverable energy dissipation and reinforcement efficiency of the composites as a function of fibre content in the temperature range of 0-140 oC. The composite with 30 wt.% of short carbon fibres has been observed to exhibit superior thermo-mechanical response with highest energy dissipation/damping ability accompanied with a constant storage modulus without any substantial decay till 60 oC. The erosion rates (Er) of these composites are evaluated at different impingement angles (30-90o), fibre loadings (20-50 wt.%), impact velocities (43-76 m/s), stand-off distances (55-85 mm) and erodent sizes (250-600 μm) following the erosion test schedule in an air jet type test rig. An optimal parameter combination is determined and subsequently validated for erosion rate minimization following Taguchi method and by conducting confirmation experiments. A correlation between the loss-modulus inverse and the erosion rate has been observed which conceptually establishes a possible mechanistic equivalence between erosion and dynamic mechanical loading modes. The morphologies of eroded surface are examined by the scanning electron microscopy to investigate the nature of wear-craters, material damage mode and other qualitative attributes responsible for promoting erosion.