Technical report

Eect of water absorption on the mechanical properties of

glass/polyester composites
Gu Huang
*
, Hongxia Sun
School of Textiles, Tianjin Polytechnic University, 63 Chenglingzhuang Road, Hedong District, Tianjin 300160, PR China
Received 29 July 2005; accepted 15 March 2006
Available online 6 May 2006
Abstract
Laminates were developed by glass bre fabric and unsaturated polyester. The fabrication was conducted by using the VARI (Vac-
uum Assisted Resin Injection) technique. The eect of water immersion on the tensile strength and bending behaviour of the composites
was experimentally investigated. After immersed in water at a temperature of about 30 C for various periods, the composites experi-
enced signicant reduction of the tensile strength, meanwhile the bending behaviour was improved. These are attributed to the function
of the water molecules penetrated in the composites. The failure mode of the samples was shown.
2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Because of its competitive cost and relatively good
mechanical properties, glass bre has enjoyed the wide-
spread popularity to make reinforced composites in the
marine eld, such as canoes, shing trawlers, patrol boats,
mine hunting ships, masts and domes of submarines. Glass
bres can also nd their use in the reinforcement of the
composites for oshore drilling platforms of gas exploita-
tion, liquid conducting pipes, etc. Items cited above would
be immersed in water in their usage. Some other glass bre
reinforced composites may be used in civil infrastructure,
for the repair of pylon piers of bridges and overpasses.
Long time exposure to high humidity environment would
have a similar eect on these materials as those in water.
The eect of moisture or water on the properties of glass
bre reinforced composites is an important issue since such
environmental factors are often present in actual service
conditions [1]. It is essential that the composites retain their
mechanical properties with less degradation in the water or
moisture environments.
It is believed that in the water environment, water mol-
ecules will enter rapidly the interphase of the composites
between the bre and the resin because of the capillarity
[2]. The polymer matrix and the bre/matrix interphase
can be degraded by a hydrolysis reaction of unsaturated
groups within the resin [36]. Debonding may occur at
bre/matrix interphase [7]. A concern with using glass bre
composites in marine structures is the limited understand-
ing and small database of information of their long term
durability in water.
The aim of this project is to investigate the tensile
strength, bending behaviour, degradation mechanism of
the glass/unsaturated polyester composites after immersed
in water for certain period of time. After the composites
were fabricated by using the VARI (Vacuum Assisted
Resin Injection) method, the laminates were put into a dis-
tilled water tub. The water uptake was measured for each
period. The tensile strength and the bending behaviour of
the samples were tested. It is revealed that as the immersion
time of the composites increased, the tensile strength of the
specimens was gradually reduced, on the other hand, the
bending strength was increased and reasons were analyzed.
2. Experimental
The glass fabric used in the investigation was provided by the Tianjin
Chemical Factory. The fabric was a plain weave, composed of E glass
bundles with the neness of 114.8 tex. The warp count is 61 ends/10 cm
0261-3069/$ - see front matter 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2006.03.014
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: 86 22 24528528; fax: 86 22 24528017.
E-mail address: huanglll@public.tpt.tj.cn (G. Huang).
www.elsevier.com/locate/matdes
Materials and Design 28 (2007) 16471650
Materials
& Design
and the weft count is 61 picks/10 cm. Tensile strength of the fabric for
warpwise is 681.5 N, and weftwise 635.5 N. The fabric area weight is
140.05 g/m
2
.
Unsaturated polyester resin was selected as the matrix and correspond-
ing hardener and promoter were included in the ingredient. VARI tech-
nique was used to fabricate the 3-layer laminates with the area of
300 mm 300 mm. Forty hours after the fabrication, laminates were cut
along the warp direction of the fabric, samples were 250 mm in length
(warpwise) and 25 mm in width (weftwise).
Samples were divided into three groups corresponding to dierent
water immersion periods. In this investigation, three time intervals were
used, these included 7, 14 and 21 days. For the 21-day immersion group,
weight of samples was measured on a microbalance accurate to 1 mg
before immersed in water and was measured again when denite immer-
sion time was reached.
The composite panels were immersed in a large tub containing distilled
water and temperature of about 30 C. The panels were withdrawn from
the water at planned days, wiped dry to remove the water on the surface.
Mechanical properties were tested within 30 min after the withdrawal of
the samples from the tub.
Three-point bending test was carried out on the instrument developed
by the research group, the tensile strength was measured by using the
Multi-Purpose Instron Tester (Model 3396).
3. Testing and analysis
Table 1 shows the sample weight of the original and
after each water immersion period.
Each datum in Table 1 is the mean of 5 measurements.
The percentage mass increase of the samples are 0.5%,
0.9% and 1.5% for the immersed days of 7, 14 and 21,
respectively. One may see the steady increase of the sample
mass with prolonged immersion time. Statistic analysis
shows that the specimen weight change is signicant. It
seems that water uptake in a short period as employed in
this research showed gradual increase with increased
immersion days. Prolonged water immersion may nally
make the sample saturated. When the composites have
been immersed in water, water molecules would be
attracted by the hydrophilic groups in the glass bre and
the unsaturated polyester. On the other hand, the capillar-
ity would conduct the water molecules to the material,
voids and cracks in the composites are ideal spaces to
accept the water.
After longer time immersion in the water, hydrophilic
groups of the polyester and the glass bre would have
chemical reactions with water molecules, soluble materials
may generate. This would cause a gradually weight decline
and eventually the mass of the composites dropped below
its original mass [3]. In this case, the specimen weight is a
consequence of two eects: water absorption and material
extraction.
During the tensile test the distance between the two
clamps was kept 200 mm and the crosshead displacement
was set at 2 mm/min. The results of the tensile strength test
are summarized in Table 2.
Each datum in Table 2 is based on 5 determinations. It is
clearly seen in the table that the breaking strength and ten-
sile stress of the composites decreased gradually with
increased water immersion time. Statistic calculation dem-
onstrates that the dierences of the breaking strength and
tensile stress among the 4 situations are highly signicant.
The results indicate that the material has experienced some
forms of physical damage and/or chemical degradation.
Composites deterioration occurs as cracks of the matrix
and bre/matrix debonding due to tensile strains induced
by environmental swelling and decomposition of the
matrix. The weakening of bonding between bre and
matrix and softening of matrix material are also reasons
of the decreased composite strength.
Three-point bending test was carried out according to
the Chinese standard GB3356/1982. The conguration of
the test is illustrated in Fig. 1.
The distance between the two pivots was 180 mm, a
xed load (0.5 N) was pressed at the middle of the sample
during the test, the maximum deections of specimens were
recorded. Fig. 2 illustrates the testing results.
One should notice that the smaller the value in Fig. 2,
the greater the bending resistance. It shows that after water
immersion the bending behaviour of the samples is
improved. The datum of 7-day water treatment is lower
than expected, this may contribute to the testing error.
Table 1
Sample weight (g)
Original 5.178
7 days 5.204
14 days 5.225
21 days 5.256
Table 2
Tensile strength of the composites
Breaking
strength (N)
Tensile stress
(MPa)
Elongation at
break (%)
Original sample 3246.77 192 3.11
7-day water immersion 3098.26 181 3.07
14-day water immersion 3002.96 176 3.27
21-day water immersion 2754.11 162 3.15
load
sample
pivot 1 pivot 2
Fig. 1. Conguration of the bending test.
23.5
24
24.5
25
25.5
26
26.5
0 7 14 21
Water treated days (days)
B
e
n
d
i
n
g

d
i
s
t
a
n
c
e

(
m
m
)
Fig. 2. Bending behaviour of samples.
1648 G. Huang, H. Sun / Materials and Design 28 (2007) 16471650
Anyway, the descending trend of the bending distance with
increased immersion time is obvious. The results are con-
tradictory to traditional conclusions [46]. In the case when
the sample is being bended in the wet state, the water mol-
ecules would make the panel more integrity, resulting in a
greater bending resistance.
It is beyond doubt that after water immersion, panels
were deteriorated, this would discourage the bending
strength. On the other hand, thinner panels were employed
in the project in order to accelerate the water uptake and
reach saturation sooner. The higher uptake of water may
be one reason of the improved bending resistance. After
immersion, all the voids and cracks of the laminates would
be lled with water, which acts as a plasticiser to favour the
bending strength. The resulted bending behaviour would
be a combination of the both mentioned above. The panel
thickness may inuence the results in water durability
studies.
4. Failure mode
Figs. 3 and 4 show the broken sections of the glass/poly-
ester composite before and after the water immersion,
respectively. The photos were taken by using the scanning
electron microscope (Model KYKY made of Beijing
Microscope Factory, Beijing, China).
From Fig. 3 one may notice the white particles (the
polyester matrix) are closely adhered on bre (the black
rod) surface. Delamination between the bre and the
matrix is not noticed.
After water immersion (Fig. 4), one may see that the sur-
face of some bres is smooth without stuck resin particles,
this may illustrate that debonding happened between the
bre and the matrix. Water can cause swelling and plastic-
isation of the polymer matrix and debonding at the bre/
matrix interphase. During the moisture absorption of the
interphase, water molecules came into the free space of
polymers or macrovoids formed by cavities and cracks,
which induced more new cavities and cracks, thus the inter-
phase was gradually damaged.
5. Summary
When the glass/polyester composites are immersed in
the water, water uptake would happen. This is the results
of capillarity of the materials and the water absorption of
the hydrophilic groups in the glass bre and the unsatu-
rated polyester. The weight uptake would increase with
prolonged immersion time as far as the composite is unsat-
urated. The reaction between the water molecules and the
matrix would deteriorate the interphase resulting in a
weaker material.
Water can cause matrix swelling, interphase debonding,
physical damage of the interphase and hydrolysis of the
material, these are the main reasons of the deteriorated ten-
sile strength.
EMS photo demonstrates that the delamination between
the bre and the matrix after water immersion is obvious.
This explains the decrease of the reduced tensile strength
of the material.
The bending resistance showed an increased trend with
increased water immersion time. The author believed that
the entered water may act as a plasticiser making the lam-
inate a more entirety.
The eect of moisture or water on the properties of poly-
mer composites is an important issue, further studies are
necessary.
Acknowledgement
This research was nanced by the Key Laboratory of
China Education Ministry, Zhejiang University of Sciences
under the project Research on ageing behaviours of com-
posites in moisture environments (No. 2005003).
References
[1] Takafumi Kawaguchi, Pearson Raymond A. The moisture eect on
the fatigue crack of glass particle and bre reinforced epoxies with
strong and weak bending conditions, Part 2. A microscopic study on
toughening mechanism. Compos Sci Technol 2004;64:19912007.
[2] Zhang Jihua, Zhan Maosheng. Visual experiments for water absorbing
process of bre-reinforced composites. J Compos Mater 2004;38:
77990.
Fig. 3. Broken section of the original sample (160).
Fig. 4. Broken section after 21-day water immersion (120).
G. Huang, H. Sun / Materials and Design 28 (2007) 16471650 1649
[3] Kootsooks A, Mouritz AP. Seawater durability of glass- and carbon-
polymer composites. Compos Sci Technol 2004;64:150311.
[4] Csaba Suri, Hiroyuki Hamada, Kiyohito Koyama. Blister appearance
in thermoplastic composites. Adv Compos Mater 2001;10:6375.
[5] Hodzic A, Kim JK, Lowe AE, Stachurki ZH. The eect of water aging
on the interphase region and interlaminar fracture toughness in
polymer-glass composites. Compos Sci Technol 2004;64:218595.
[6] Alvarez Vera A, Vazquez Analia. Eect of water sorption on the
exural properties of fully biodegradable composites. J Compos Mater
2004;38:116581.
[7] Krystyna Imielinska, Laurent Guillaumat. The eect of water
immersion ageing on low-velocity impact behaviour of woven
aramid-glass bre/epoxy composites. Compos Sci Technol 2004;64:
22718.
1650 G. Huang, H. Sun / Materials and Design 28 (2007) 16471650