The Combined Effects of Load, Temperature, and Moisture on the Durability of E-Glass/Vinyl Ester Composite Materials

摘要

Polymeric composite materials are coming into use in applications in which the effects of the environment may be very important. In order to assess some of these effects, experiments have been performed to observe the combined effects of moisture, elevated temperature, and sustained load on the durability of E-glass/vinyl ester composite materials. This durability is evaluated in terms of the ultimate tensile strength of the materials. Two types of fabric have been used for reinforcement, namely CM 5005 and QM 6408, with two different thicknesses of the quasi-isotropic material. The tests have shown that exposure to moisture at elevated temperature reduces the composite durability for the layups studied. The addition of a sustained load typically causes a more rapid reduction in the durability. This conditioning also generally increases the material stiffness in the direction of the applied load. These results indicate that there may be significant consequences resulting from the use of polymeric composites for outdoor applications, such as for civil engineering structures, if the proper precautions are not taken.