Assessment of damage accumulation in Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) composites under spectrum fatigue loading

Assessment of lifetime under spectrum-fatigue loading was undertaken on GFRP composites material, using cumulative damage models proposed by Palmgren-Miner, Broutman & Sahu, Hashin & Rotem and Epaarachchi & Clausen. None of the models were not performed well. Epaarachchi & Clausen model which is based on reisdual strength has the flexibility of applying according to assumed damage accumulation mechanisms. This model consistently predicting conservative lifetime while the other models almost over predicting. Further, a statistical analysis perform on predictions has shown that the Epaarachchi and Clausen model is performing better than the other models.