ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the process of laminate strain-corrosion. One important practical application involving laminate strain-corrosion is underground sanitation pipes. The failures from laminate strain-corrosion are easy to identify. Their distinctive features are a long and deep crack, cutting across the laminate with smooth surfaces and no jagged or brushy fibers. The strain-corrosion deterioration may involve the resin, the fibers or both. The resin deterioration is not relevant, since the fibers arrest the crack growth. In laminate strain-corrosion, the unchecked crack growth is perpendicular to the laminate, cutting through the fibers. This situation is in sharp contrast with the fundamental composite effect that denies the possibility of cracks growing across the fibers. The laminate strain-corrosion cracks start as small flaws that grow under bending loads in the presence of chemicals. The strain-corrosion cracks nucleated by the flaws are easy to identify and difficult to explain. The regression lines generated in these tests allow the prediction of the long-term strength.
