Abstract
Retention of mechanical and thermal properties of nano-Al2O3 embedded glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites in marine environment is necessary and need to be evaluated to realize the full potential of the nanocomposites. The plain and nanocomposites were seawater aged in a temperature controlled seawater bath at 70 °C for a duration of 40 days. The results revealed that seawater aged plain and nanocomposites deteriorate their flexural strength, interlaminar shear strength and glass transition temperature. However, with the addition of 0.1 wt% of nano-Al2O3 particles into the plain GFRP composite, the flexural strength increased by 12%, interlaminar shear strength by 11% in dry condition and seawater diffusion coefficient was reduced by 17% as compared to plain GFRP composites. Nevertheless, the glass transition temperature of the nanocomposites was not improved in dry and seawater aged conditions significantly. The fractured surfaces of tested samples were investigated through FESEM to support the new findings.
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