Experimental Investigation of Long Term Seawater Durability and Shear Properties of Pultruded GFRP Composite

Abstract

The effect of long term immersion in seawater at different temperatures on the properties of pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite rebar was investigated. Samples were conditioned in seawater and in dry at 23, 55 and 75 °C for 0, 8, 20, 30 and 36 months to analyse the changes in shear properties such as transverse shear strength (TSS) and short beam shear strength (SBSS). Both TSS and SBSS increased after conditioning in dry at 55 and 75 °C; on the other hand, TSS decreased gradually due to conditioning in seawater at 23, 55 and 75 °C, whereas SBSS decreased due to conditioning in seawater only at 75 °C. Microscopic analysis specified that the shear strength decreased due to fibre/matrix interfacial failure as a result of de-bonding and fibre pull-out. Compared to the short beam shear test, the transverse shear test was found to be a sensitive technique to measure the durability of pultruded GFRP rebar. FT-IR analysis indicated superficial hydrolysis reaction of polymer matrix occurred when the sample was conditioned at 75 °C. A reversible change in glass transition temperature (Tg) and in viscoelastic property of the polymer matrix was observed due to conditioning in seawater at 23 and 55 °C.