Essay Sample on Effect of Temperature and Moisture on Composite Materials

Introduction

Composite materials are formed by merging two or more materials which in most cases have different properties. According to Li, composite materials composes of two or more mechanically separable and physically distinct components referred to as matrix and reinforcement that help preserve their structure. Nevertheless, composite materials are significantly affected various environmental elements such as temperature and moisture. Multiple studies have been done on how the presence of temperature and moisture affects composite materials.

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According to Lai, Botsis, Cugnoni, and Coric, moisture absorption damages the physical and mechanical properties of various polymers. The authors did a study on a single fiber composite and showed that both moisture and heat transfer affects the absorption capabilities of different polymers. Moreover, Mizera, Herak, Hrabe, and Kabutey, also claim that the mechanical behavior of various natural fibers such as banana acting as composite materials can be significantly affected by changes in moisture content and temperature. Their study which was done on Ensete fibers showed that temperature of above 100C affects tensile strength in this kind of fibers.

Almansour, Dhakal and Zhang on the other hand conducted a study on the impact of water absorption on the basalt fiber armored with hybrid composites and Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness of flax. Their results showed that natural fibers composites' moisture resistance and durability is positively impacted by hybridization of the basalt fiber. Eslami, Honarbakhsh-Raouf, and Eslami also investigated the impact of temperature and humidity on properties of GFRP specimens and found out that the absorbed moisture and diffusion coefficient are reduced when the GFRP are exposed to low temperatures. Furthermore, Shen and Springer through their mathematical expressions prove that absorption and desorption in composite materials are affected by conditions in the environment such as temperature.

Moreover, Sethi and Ray claim that thermal and moist environment significantly threatens the potential and promise of the fibrous polymeric composites. On the other hand, Thirumalai, Andersen, and Lystrup claim that moisture content significantly impacts the stiffness and strength of some fiber composites such as the one covered by polyamide six composites. Additionally, Shen and Springer in their study claim and prove the mechanical property of composite material may be significantly affected by when they are placed in high temperatures and high humidity.

References

C. Mizera, D. Herak, P. Hrabe and A. Kabutey, "Effect of temperature and moisture content on tensile behaviour of false banana fibre (Ensete ventricosum)", International Agrophysics, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 377-382, 2017.

[2]C. Shen and G. Springer, "Effects of moisture and temperature on the tensile strength of composite materials", Composites, vol. 9, no. 3, p. 204, 1978.

C. Shen and G. Springer, "Moisture absorption and desorption of composite materials", Composites, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 63, 1977.

F. Almansour, H. Dhakal and Z. Zhang, "Effect of water absorption on Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness of flax/basalt reinforced vinyl ester hybrid composites", Composite Structures, vol. 168, pp. 813-825, 2017.

M. Lai, J. Botsis, J. Cugnoni and D. Coric, "An experimental-numerical study of moisture absorption in an epoxy", Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, vol. 43, no. 7, pp. 1053-1060, 2012.

M. LI, "Temperature and moisture effects on composite materials for wind turbine blades", Masters, Montana State University, Bozeman, 2000.

R. Thirumalai, L. Anderson and A. Lystrup, "Influence of moisture absorption on properties of fiber reinforced polyamide 6 composites", 26th Annual technical conference of the American Society for Composites 2011 and the 2nd Joint US-Canada Conference on Composites, pp. 500-510, 2011.

S. Eslami, A. Honarbakhsh-Raouf and S. Eslami, "Effects of moisture absorption on degradation of E-glass fiber reinforced Vinyl Ester composite pipes and modelling of transient moisture diffusion using finite element analysis", Corrosion Science, vol. 90, pp. 168-175, 2015.

S. Sethi and B. Ray, "Environmental effects on fibre reinforced polymeric composites: Evolving reasons and remarks on interfacial strength and stability", Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, vol. 217, pp. 43-67, 2015.