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A model previously formulated or water sorption in polyester resin‐glass fiber composites has been applied to the kinetic analysis of experimental data for two composites containing a hydrolysable (polyvinyl acetate‐PVAc) and a non‐hydrolyzable (polystyrene‐PS) shrinkage‐controlling low‐profile additive (LPA) respectively. It was found that the equilibrium water uptake in the composites and their unreinforced matrix is not drastically affected by the type of LPA. The kinetics of water sorption in the composites, however, were substantially different. The PVAc composite displayed a two‐stage sorption process, the first stage being attributed to diffusion combined with hydrolysis, and the second to matrix swelling and plasticizing. A maximum in the kinetic curve was observed, and was due to changes in water solubility inside the matrix during sorption. In contrast, the PS composite displayed the typical kinetics of materials with slowly increasing hydrophilicity.

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Engineering materials containing poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) as the key component undergo hydrolytic degradation, which must be minimized or, at least, controlled. To characterize PVAc hydrolysis quantitatively, the diffusion of acetic acid (HAc) in PVAc, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), unsaturated polyester (UPE), and a UPE/ PVAc blend was studied in detail. The permeability cell earlier developed by the authors was modified here to reduce experimental error. As the diffusion and solubility coefficients of water and HAc in the above materials were measured at different temperatures, a mathematical model was developed, which takes proper account of the combined water and HAc diffusion in PVAc undergoing partial hydrolysis. The model was further validated by the experimental data obtained at 70°C for UPE/PVAc film, simulating a matrix of sheet-molding compounds composite materials.

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