Mechanical Properties of Composites Based on Low Styrene Emission Polyester Resins for Marine Applications
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Springer 2006
Mechanical Properties of Composites Based on Low Styrene Emission Polyester Resins for Marine Applications CHRISTOPHE BALEY1,j, Y. PERROT1, PETER DAVIES2, A. BOURMAUD1 and YVES GROHENS1 1
Universite´ de Bretagne Sud, L2PIC, BP 92116, 56321 Lorient Cedex, France. e-mail: {christophe.baley, yves.perrot, alain.bourmaud, yves.grohens}@univ-ubs.fr 2 IFREMER, Materials & Structures group (ERT/MS), BP70, 29280 Plouzane´, France. e-mail: [email protected] (Received 21 March 2005; accepted 19 July 2005) Abstract. Glass fibre reinforced polyester composites are used extensively for hulls and decks of pleasure boats. Boat-builders must optimise manufacturing technology, not only with respect to mechanical properties but also limiting volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions. One way to achieve this is through modified polyester resin formulations such as low styrene content, low styrene emission or combinations of these. The resin matrix selection procedure is based on design specification (mechanical behaviour) but also manufacturing requirements and cost considerations. For this application post-cure is rarely used so it is important to optimise curing conditions. In this study the influence of the curing cycle on mechanical properties was examined first for two polyester resins. Then for one cycle (16 h at 40-C) the properties of eight resins have been determined. Significant differences in failure strain are observed, from 0.9% to 3.3%. The resins with improved VOC performance are the most brittle. The transverse tensile behaviour of these resins in composites with unidirectional glass fibre reinforcement and the limit of linearity for composites with glass mat both depend on these failure strains. These results are discussed in terms of admissible composite strains for boat design. Key words: composite materials, unsaturated polyester, transverse tensile, mechanical properties, styrene emission, glass fibres, unidirectional, mat.
1. Introduction Glass fibre reinforced polyester resin composites are popular for the fabrication of hulls and decks of pleasure boats. Polyester resins allow large, thick structures to be produced at reasonable cost and generally show good resistance to the marine environment. However, in recent years legislation concerning VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions has increased pressure on boat-builders
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CHRISTOPHE BALEY ET AL.
to optimise their manufacturing technology. To produce large numbers of pleasure boats hand lay-up is still widely used. This method does not necessarily result in high scatter in properties [1] but the safety factors used to dimension these structures are very conservative [2] and the fibre contents are quite low (fibre volume fraction around 32% for woven reinforcement, 25% for mat), which limits mechanical performance [3]. There is a tendency today towards other manufacturing routes such as injection and infusion, to improve mechanical behaviour, improve reproducibility, reduce costs
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