Experimental and simulation study on surface material stripping of glass fiber reinforced composites by baking soda abrasive jetting technology

Glass fiber reinforced composites (GFRP) working in a specific environment require regular inspection and maintenance. It is necessary to remove the surface material of fiber reinforced composites to check the fracture of fibers and the damage to matrix that binds fibers in this process. In this paper, the baking soda abrasive jetting was utilized to strip the surface material of glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin (GFREP). The stripping effects of baking soda abrasive jetting technology under different jetting parameters (fiber orientation, jet angle, jet pressure) were explored, and the optimum stripping conditions were determined as parallel to the fiber, 30°, 0.4 MPa. Compared with the chemical stripping method (phenol-dichloromethane), baking soda abrasive jetting can better retain epoxy resin between glass fibers. The LS-DYNA was applied to simulate the erosion process of a single abrasive particle under the optimum stripping condition. The plastic deformation of the matrix and the slight bending deformation of the glass fiber under abrasive impact were observed.