Moisture Absorption Model of Composites Considering Water Temperature Effect

Abstract

The influence of water temperature on composite moisture absorption parameters was investigated in temperature-controlled water bath. Experiments of carbon fiber/bismaleimide resin composites immersed in water of 60℃, 70℃and 80℃ were developed respectively. According to the moisture content-time curves obtained from the experimental results, the diffusion coefficient and the balanced moisture content of the composites immersed in different water temperature could be calculated. What's more, the effect of water temperature on the diffusion coefficient and the balanced moisture content were discussed too. According to the Arrhenius equation and the law of Fick, a moisture absorption model was proposed to simulate the hygroscopic behaviour of the composite laminates immersed in different water temperature which can predict the absorption rate of water of the composites immersed in distilled water of 95℃ at any time precisely and can calculate how long it will take to reach the specific absorption rate.

Keywords

• composite
• Arrhenius equation
• the law of Fick
• moisture absorption model