The Durability of Reinforced Polymers under Adverse Environments: Interface Effects

Abstract

Three types of experiments have been carried out to determine interface properties: single fibre pull out, transverse tests on unidirectional composites and peel tests on single fibres. The pull out tests were shown to give misleading results: interfaces which pull out suggested were as strong or stronger than the matrix, yielded transverse strengths which were low, and transverse fracture surfaces which had abundant bare fibres on them. Transverse tests showed that composites are weakened by water, but did not clearly reveal whether a weakened interface was a contributory factor. Peel tests did show that some interfaces are weakened by water. Interfaces studied included glass, carbon and Kevlar with epoxy and carbon-PEEK. This last was very resistant to water, being virtually unaffected after 8000 h at 90 deg C.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1998
Accession Number
ADA354827

Entities

People

  • M. R. Piggott

Organizations

  • University of Toronto

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Biomedical And Dental Materials
  • Carbon Fibers
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Composite Materials
  • Curing Agents
  • Fibers
  • Glass Fibers
  • Materials
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Peel Strength
  • Plastics
  • Reinforced Plastics
  • Resins
  • Shear Strength
  • Transverse

Readers

  • Reinforced Composite Materials
  • Surface Coatings Technology.