Tensile creep behavior of short-carbon-fiber reinforced polyetherimide composites

Abstract Tensile creep behavior of short-carbon-fiber reinforced polyetherimide (SCF/PEI) composites is investigated at ambient temperature by short and long creep tests in this work. Influences of carbon fiber concentration and applied tensile stress on the creep performance of SCF/PEI composites are studied. Four viscoelastic models are employed to quantify the viscoelastic behavior of SCF/PEI composites and the effect of fiber surface treatment is discussed on the creep behavior. Short-term creep results show that a relatively high carbon fiber content and fiber surface thermal treatment lead to a relatively high creep resistance. In order to accelerate the short-term creep test, the time–temperature superposition principle (TTSP) is employed to detect the long-term creep behavior of SCF/PEI composites at ambient temperature. In addition, an attempt has been made to generate a master curve to approximate the long-term creep behavior of the SCF/PEI composites at ambient temperature.