Experimental investigation of yield and hysteresis behaviour of an epoxy resin under cyclic compression in the large deformation regime

High-performance polymers are extensively used in various applications undergoing long-term cyclic loadings. The deformation behaviour of an amorphous thermoset epoxy resin undergoing cyclic compressive loading is investigated for a range of applied deformation levels. The measurements indicate significant hysteresis upon repeated loading and unloading cycles with progressive accumulation of plastic strain. Cyclic damage leads to a reduction of the stress needed to reach the peak strain per cycle, while cyclic stiffening corresponding to an increase of elastic modulus with increasing number of cycles is observed, attributed to chain orientation effects. The dissipated energy asymptotically decreases to zero under strain-controlled cycling conditions. Interestingly, when monotonically loaded after cycling, the epoxy exhibits an increase in yield strength. This ‘re-yield’ stress level is closely related to the selected value of the peak (unloading) strain level and increases with increasing number of loading cycles.