The study of cyclic compression bending and its effects on the behavior of composite materials is the next step in the study of these materials. To this end, a compression bending fatigue fixture was designed. This fixture was intended to establish the uitability of composite materials in off-shore applications, through the characterization of their behavior when subjected to cyclic compression bending at elevated temperatures. Of particular interest to this study was a unidirectional carbon fiber/PPS hermoplastic matrix composite. In a previous study, preliminary tensile and bending tests were conducted to establish room and elevated temperature tensile behavior as well as the effects of aging on material properties. This data was used to design the ompression bending fatigue fixture. The fixture allows for multiple specimens to be tested simultaneously, in a corrosive environment such as sea water, at elevated temperatures. Due to large specimen displacements, a classical elastica analysis was perf rmed to obtain bent geometry. No testing has yet been performed, but preliminary observations indicate that the compression bending fatigue fixture will provide reliable data for use in the design of flexible off-shore piping.
September 17, 1996