Microstructural analysis of GFRP failure mechanisms after compressive load and temperature duress

This research evaluates, at microscopic level, the failure mechanisms of pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymers (GFRP) column elements after they have been subjected to temperature stress and compressive load. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) performed the investigation, with the GFRP samples cut into small sized specimens and treated with specific coatings. The analysed samples exhibited particular features, which have been interpreted with the support of fractography. The results suggest that the GFRP composite failure, under the combined duress of temperature and compression load, is mostly dominated by microbuckling. SEM analysis shows how the temperature treatment affects the resin-fibre interaction, how temperature interacts with the compression load and which failure mechanisms developed as a result.