Experimental investigation and semi-empirical modeling of fatigue life and stiffness degradation in unidirectional glass/epoxy laminates
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Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, India
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Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT), Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, India
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Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT), Nitte (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, India
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Research Fellow, INTI International University, Persiaran Perdana BBN, Putra Nilai, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
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Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management, Mangalore, Karnataka, India
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Department of Aerospace Engineering, Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
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Department of Mechanical Engineering, Presidency School of Engineering, Presidency University, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Publication date: 2026-07-03
Corresponding author
Avinash Lakshmikanthan
Nitte (Deemed to be University), Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bengaluru, India
Adv. Sci. Technol. Res. J. 2026; 20(10)
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ABSTRACT
The increasing application of glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites in structural systems requires reliable prediction of fatigue life and stiffness degradation under cyclic loading. This study experimentally investigates the fatigue behaviour of unidirectional S-glass/epoxy laminates fabricated using the hand lay-up process. Tension–tension fatigue tests were conducted at three stress ratios (R = 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2) and three maximum stress levels (0.6, 0.7, and 0.8 * UTS). Stress–life behaviour was evaluated using the Basquin and Goodman-corrected Basquin relations, while Kaplan–Meier statistics were employed to account for fatigue-life scatter and censored data. Residual stiffness degradation was characterised using four semi-empirical models (Yang, Mao, Wu, and Zong). Among these models, the Wu model showed the best agreement with the experimental data and accurately reproduced the nonlinear stiffness degradation behaviour. A generalized regression framework was further developed to correlate the degradation-model parameters with the stress ratio and normalized stress amplitude. The results demonstrate the feasibility of integrating experimental fatigue characterization, statistical reliability analysis, and semi-empirical modelling for the design-oriented fatigue assessment of GFRP laminates under cyclic loading.