Abstract
This paper presents a long-term experimental investigation of E-glass/epoxy composites’ durability exposed to seawater at different temperatures. The thermoset composite samples were exposed to 23 °C, 45 °C and 65 °C seawater for a prolonged exposure time of 11 years. The mechanical performance as a function of exposure time was evaluated and a strength-based technique was used to assess the durability of the composites. The experimental results revealed that the tensile strength of E-glass/epoxy composite was reduced by 8.2%, 29.7%, and 54.4% after immersion in seawater for 11 years at 23 °C, 45 °C, and 65 °C, respectively. The prolonged immersion in seawater resulted in the plasticization and swelling in the composite. This accelerated the rate of debonding between the fibers and matrix. The failure analysis was conducted to investigate the failure mode of the samples. SEM micrographs illustrated a correlation between the fiber/matrix debonding, potholing, fiber pull-out, river line marks and matrix cracking with deterioration in the tensile characteristics of the thermoset composite.
Highlights
Glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites are commonly used in automobile, aerospace and marine industries because of their high strength to weight ratio, stiffness and durability
Glass fibers are simple to manufacture, economical, less fragile and have high chemical resistance when compared with carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs)
GFRPs are prone to harsh environment conditions such as UV, seawater, alkaline and corrosive conditions [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Summary
Glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites are commonly used in automobile, aerospace and marine industries because of their high strength to weight ratio, stiffness and durability. The immersion of polymers in water leads to deterioration in the physical properties of composites [9,10,11,12,13]. This results in the inflation of the epoxy polymer, causing bond failure due to hydrolysis and plasticization [14,15,16]. As polymers are submerged in hot water, small cracks are initiated within the polymer matrix due to water absorption and osmotic edge rupture [17,18,19] This increases the degradation of composites with immersion time. It has been observed that the flexural properties of FRP samples decreased due to seawater immersion [23,24]
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