Dispersion of Mechanical Properties at Nanoscale Studied by Indentation Mapping of a Fiber Reinforced Composite

The properties of a resin transfer molded sheet of strand-reinforced composite for automotive applications are investigated at the microscopic level. Three components of the composite can be identified in the bright field micrograph – glass fibers, epoxy matrix and binder. The latter having been added in manufacturing process. Accelerated Nanoindentation with 64.451 single indentation experiments is performed at room temperature to generate a mechanical property map of an area containing the 3 components. The distribution of properties, mean value and standard deviation, is determined for each component. Two locations in the composite are selected for a study of the local glass transition behavior by performing dynamic indentation experiments while simultaneous variation of the temperature of the indenter tip and sample within a micro-heating chamber.