Investigations into the effects of long-term seawater exposure on graphite/epoxy composite materials

Miscellaneous · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:7201547

Sloan, F E

These studies were intended to determine whether graphite-fiber-reinforced plastics can survive the highly aggressive seawater environment when used as structural materials in advanced ocean engineering designs. Two general effects of seawater exposure were identified as potentially life-limiting phenomena. The first effect is a weakening of the fiber-to-matrix bond caused by exposure of the interface to moisture. The second effect is the establishment of an electrolyte (seawater) around the conductive graphite fibers, thus allowing electrochemical reactions to take place. The fiber/matrix interface bond is weakened as a result of exposure to a moist environment. However, for graphite-epoxy composites the bond does not generally fail in the absence of applied loading. When loads are applied the local effect is for the fiber to de-bond from the matrix. Electrochemical degradation can occur as the result of stray-current corrosion or galvanic coupling. Stray-current damage is rapid, involves dissolution of the graphite reinforcing fibers, and can occur under relatively low current conditions.

• Research Organization: California Univ., San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 7201547
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph.D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
CORROSION
REINFORCED PLASTICS
SEAWATER
CORROSIVE EFFECTS
BONDING
EPOXIDES
FIBERS
GRAPHITE
CARBON
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
ELEMENTAL MINERALS
ELEMENTS
FABRICATION
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
JOINING
MATERIALS
MINERALS
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PLASTICS
REINFORCED MATERIALS
SYNTHETIC MATERIALS
WATER
360604* - Materials- Corrosion
Erosion
& Degradation