Effect of Water Sorption on Performance of Pultruded E-Glass/Vinylester Composites
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 17, Issue 1
Abstract
The degradation response of pultruded E-glass vinylester composites immersed in deionized water at 23, 40, 60, and is characterized through mechanical testing (tension and short-beam-shear), moisture uptake, and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). Tests are conducted after periods of immersion and subsequently after a period of drying out to assess regain of performance due to reduction in sorbed moisture content. It is seen that, although the initial effect of immersion is just matrix plasticization, increased periods of immersion and/or use of elevated temperatures results in hydrolysis, interfacial debonding, microcracking, and even degradation of the fiber itself. Not only do these mechanisms of irreversible degradation result in significant drops in performance, but further, these decreases are increasingly irreversible. Both inductively coupled plasma and Fourier transform infrared studies indicate leaching of composite constituents.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to acknowledge support for this research from the California Department of Water Resources (D. Jacobi, Program Manager) and the California Department of Transportation (C. Sikorsky, Program Manager). The assistance of L.Wu in conducting additional tests is also acknowledged. The writers are grateful to M. Neff of Seal Laboratories for assistance with ICP-ES analysis of solutions and FTIR studies.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 17 • Issue 1 • February 2005
Pages: 63 - 71
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 3, 2003
Accepted: Mar 26, 2004
Published online: Feb 1, 2005
Published in print: Feb 2005
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Roberto Lopez-Anido
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