Abstract
There has been extensive development in the offshore and marine industries of the use of polymer composite materials and understanding the durability of these materials is a significant challenge. Numerous test methods exist for the accelerated ageing of polymeric materials at the laboratory scale, but tests employing a combination of exposure conditions (e.g. at elevated temperature, under pressure, under a mechanical load) are lacking.
In this work elevated temperatures are used to accelerate the ageing of polymer composite specimens when exposed to different combinations of immersion in water, pressure and mechanical loading. The results show that the behaviour of the material exposed to different combinations of exposure conditions, produces changes in residual properties (i.e. flexural modulus flexural strength and Tg) which are complex. Of immediate significance to understanding the behaviour of composites in a marine environment is the observation of a very significant decrease in the rate of moisture absorption for specimens tested under a pressure of 300 bar.