Failure mechanisms of GRFP after long term exposure to seawater

Abstract

The adoption of composite polymeric materials in marine applications is fully related to factors such as reliability and cost-effectiveness. The improvement in the knowledge and deep understanding of the behaviour of these materials considering the operational environment is fundamental for avoiding exceedingly high safety factors which compromise the market price. Accordingly, the effects of immersion in seawater of glass/epoxy composite laminates were studied to better understand the failure mechanisms induced by seawater aging. The damage evolution under fatigue loading was assessed at the surfaces of the samples by the digital image correlation (DIC) technique to characterise the first principal strain fields. Additionally, the fracture surfaces of the specimens were analysed using scanning electron microscope (SEM), showing changes in the structure and resulting on a significant decrease in fatigue life of immersed specimens.