Abstract
The present paper examines the effects of hygrothermal aging on the reinforced epoxy composites. The roles of reinforcement types and stacking sequence on the mechanical properties of composites under hygrothermal aging are investigated. Four different composite materials with different stacking sequence were produced. Unidirectional E-glass and carbon fabrics with an areal density 300 gr/m2 as reinforcement and epoxy as matrix were used. Composites were manufactured using vacuum-assisted resin infusion molding. In order to determine the mechanical properties of the composites, specimens were prepared according to the ASTM standards. The aging process was carried out in climatic test cabin at a temperature of 90 oC and a humidity of 90%. As a result of the tests, while the tensile strength of the glass reinforced composites decreased with aging time, no significant change was observed for carbon and hybrid composites. On the other hand, the tensile strength decreased in transverse direction for all types of composites. XPS analysis was used to understand the distribution of atoms on the surface of specimens. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.mech.24.1.18508
Highlights
Today, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites, thanks to their potential advantages such as highspecific strength, stiffness and being lightweight, have taken the place of traditional metals in many areas, such as automotive, aircraft industry, wind turbine, and marine applications
The durability of polymer matrix composite materials (PCMs) under environmental conditions has become an ongoing concern for the industry and researcher due to increasing use of polymer composite materials
This present work has studied the effect of hygrothermal aging on mechanical properties of epoxy resin composites that are reinforced with E-glass and carbon
Summary
Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites, thanks to their potential advantages such as highspecific strength, stiffness and being lightweight, have taken the place of traditional metals in many areas, such as automotive, aircraft industry, wind turbine, and marine applications. PCMs may be exposed to some hygrothermal conditions with high temperature and moisture content and this environment will lead to deterioration of composites properties [4, 5]. Fitriah et al [13] investigated the hygrothermal aging effects on crushing behaviour of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy pipes that were manufactured with three different winding angles by filament winding process. The pipes were hydrothermally aged in tap water at a constant temperature of 80 °C for periods of 500, 1000, and 1500 h. While glass fibers are sensitive to humid environments
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