Abstract
Fiber reinforced polymer resin composites are used in infrastructure, structural, and foam core sandwich structure applications. When exposed to environmental factors degradation initiates in the composite matrix due to stress, radiation, moisture and chemical effects, causing overall weakening. Combined exposure of UV radiation and moisture creates synergistic degradation mechanisms. Here, accelerated aging of carbon fiber-reinforced vinylester composites is performed using UV radiation and moisture exposure with environmental chambers to ascertain the effect on the composite mechanical response over time. Composite coupons are characterized for mass and surface volume changes, and mechanical characterization is used to assess the effects of combined environments on strength. The significant physical and chemical mechanisms of the composite performance loss for combined exposure conditions will be discussed in the context of accelerated aging.
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Acknowledgements
The authors respectfully acknowledge the support from Drs. Yapa D.S. Rajapakse and Airan J. Perez from the Office of Naval Research through grant #N000141110816. We also acknowledge the assistance of Prof. G. Halada and Mr. M. Cuiffo from Stony Brook University with the FTIR photoacoustic spectroscopy and analysis.
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© 2013 The Society for Experimental Mechanics
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Korach, C.S., Liao, HT., Wu, D., Feka, P., Chiang, Fp. (2013). Combined Effects of Moisture and UV Radiation on the Mechanics of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Vinylester Composites. In: Antoun, B., Qi, H., Hall, R., Tandon, G., Lu, H., Lu, C. (eds) Challenges in Mechanics of Time-Dependent Materials and Processes in Conventional and Multifunctional Materials, Volume 2. Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4241-7_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4241-7_17
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