Three‐point bending fatigue behavior of basalt‐carbon‐glass/epoxy hybrid composites under saltwater environment.

Fatigue is a sudden failure of components below the maximum strength of the material when subjected to repeated loading. This paper studies the fatigue behavior of basalt, carbon, and glass fibers/epoxy hybrid composites under three‐point flexural loading and a saltwater environment. Five different composite panels were manufactured using the VARTM. The samples were then immersed in a saltwater solution for 60, 120, and 180 days before conducting the tests. Three‐point static and fatigue tests were conducted using UTM as per ASTM D7264‐07 and ASTM D7774‐12. The S‐N and stiffness degradation curves were plotted, and the morphology of the fatigue samples was investigated using SEM. In addition, the ion penetration in the solution was detected with ICP‐OES analysis. The result shows that bending fatigue properties of all composite samples show a degradation as the immersion period increases. This might be due to micro‐hole formation as the ions move from the sample to the saltwater solution. Highlights: Composite specimens were immersed in a saltwater solution for 2, 4, and 6 months.Three‐point bending fixture is used for fully reversed fatigue loading (T‐C).Percentage degradation of fatigue life and stiffness loss increases with the immersion periodSEM image shows delamination, fiber pullout, debonding, and fiber and matrix breakage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]