| The objective set forth in this study was to thoroughly document the effects of heat, moisture, and loading conditions on a variety of pultruded unidirectional fiberglass reinforced composite materials. This study incorporated the use of two environmental control chambers and two water immersion tanks in order to provide the necessary range of environmental exposure conditions. A set of specially designed stainless steel loading fixtures was produced in order to introduce the factor of external loading of the specimens while exposed to the predetermined environmental condition and how that would affect the mechanical and physical properties in question.; The properties of interest were the flexural strength (determined using the three-point flexural bending method), flexural modulus (determined using the three-point flexural bending method), and glass transition temperature of the material (determined using differential scanning calorimetry). Other data that was noted during the conditioning and testing of the specimens was the break type (flexural tension, compression, shear, etc…), the change in dimensions (prior to exposure vs. after exposure), and the change in weight (prior to exposure vs. after exposure).; Using all of the information that was obtained from this study, a more detailed understanding of how and why fiberglass reinforced materials react the way they do when exposed to moisture and elevated temperature was drawn. This study is different from most others in that it explores the interactions of three independent variables (heat, moisture, and loading condition) on three different fiberglass reinforced composite systems (epoxy, vinylester, and polyester resin). |
