Analyses of Moisture in Polymers and Composites
Abstract
A suitable method for the direct measurement of moisture concentrations after humidity/ thermal exposure on state of the art epoxy and polyimide resins and their graphite and glass fiber reinforcements was sought through this study. Four methods for the determination of moisture concentration profiles, moisture diffusion modeling and moisture induced chemical changes were investigated. Carefully fabricated, precharacterized epoxy and polyimide neat resins and their AS-graphite and S-glass reinforced composites were exposed to humid conditions using heavy water (D2O), at ambient and elevated temperatures. These specimens were fixtured to theoretically limit the D2O permeation to a unidirectional penetration axis. The analytical techniques evaluated were: (1) laser pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry, (2) solids probe mass spectrometry, (3) laser pyrolysis conventional infrared spectroscopy and (4) infrared imaging thermovision. The most reproducible and sensitive technique was solids probe mass spectrometry. The fabricated exposed specimens were analyzed for D2O profiling after humidity/thermal conditioning at three exposure time durations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA303012
Entities
People
- L. E. Ryan
- R. W. Vaughan