Impact of Hygrothermal and Loading Conditions on Apparent Diffusivity of GFRP Composites

Abstract

Glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) has been used as an alternative to steel in concrete due to high strength-to-weight ratio, high stiffness-to-weight ratio, and corrosion and fatigue resistance. The main environmental factors for the deterioration of GFRP sandwich composites are temperature, sunshine, water/moisture, alkalinity and load. Most of the early durability tests were carried out with reference to application of FRP (Fibre Reinforced Polymer) in aerospace industries. Hygrothermal behaviour of preloaded sandwich structure immersed in water is examined herein. Moisture uptake was monitored for 50 days yielding percentage weight gain curves for samples of matrix (epoxy) and sandwich structure with different core thickness. The apparent diffusivity values extracted from the weight gain are significantly greater for initial days for greater core thickness sandwich structures. doi:10.14456/WJST.2015.30

Keywords

• GFRP
• composite
• sandwich
• polystyrene
• apparent diffusivity