Carbon/Vinyl Ester Composites for Enhanced Performance in Marine Applications

Abstract

The present study describes the processing and mechanical characterization of two different fibers (glass and carbon) and two different fabric architectures (woven roving and stitch bonded) made into composites with Dow Chemical's Derakane 510A-40, a brominated vinyl ester (VE) resin. Both E-glass and T700 carbon fibers are coated with VE compatible sizing. The composite panels are fabricated by the vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), the specimens are machined, and the mechanical tests are conducted as per the accepted test standards. Tension, compression, in-plane shear, and interlaminar shear properties are measured and their associated failure modes are compared with each other. The specific properties of the composites are compared with that of the marine steel. The carbon composites have superior properties, higher specific strength, and specific modulus than the marine steel. The glass composites have higher specific strength but lower specific modulus than marine steel. The glass composites are well suited for constructing ship hulls which are only strength critical. The topside (upper) structures of the ship are stiffness critical. The carbon composites are applicable to both the topside and the hull structures of the ship to reduce the total weight. The straightness of the fiber and the FOE sizing are the possible reasons for the superior performance of the carbon composites. The predicted elastic constants based on the simple micromechanical equations of the composites agree very well with the experimental data.

Mechanical and three-body abrasive wear behaviour of three-dimensional glass fabric reinforced vinyl ester composite

“…Shivakumar et al [7] have evaluated the mechanical properties of glass fabric and carbon fabric vinyl ester composites. They evaluated the mechanical properties according to ASTM D3039.…”

“…However, most of the 2D composites retain the inherent weakness of laminated composites that are susceptible to delamination. A notable advance in the polymer industry has been the use of fiber and particulate fillers as reinforcements in polymer matrix [6,7]. However, the matrix materials also play an important role as is the case for thermoset resin matrix composites which can be designed for specific applications by properly changing the polymer used as matrix.…”

Effect of sea environment on interfacial delamination behavior of polymeric sandwich structures

“…The composite sandwich panels of size 60 Â 90 cm (2 Â 3 ft) and 2.54 cm (1.0 in) thickness were fabricated using the VARTM process [7]. The facing material was made of carbon stitch bonded fabric designated by LT650-C10-R2VE supplied by the Devold AMT AS, Sweden.…”

Effects of Seawater and Low Temperatures on Polymeric Foam Core Material

“…The weight of the fabric was 634 g/m 2 with 315 g/m 2 of fiber in the 0˚direction and 305 g/m 2 in the 90°direction. Both the directional fibers were stitched with a 14 g/m 2 polyester knitting thread [19]. From these large panels, samples of a single cantilever beam (SCB) type were obtained, having dimensions of 254 mm length, 25.4 mm width, and approximately 29 mm thickness (Fig.…”