The effect of environmental ageing in the interphase of a glass fibre/vinyl ester composite designed for wind turbine applications

Xypolias, G and Thomason, J and Yang, L (2020) The effect of environmental ageing in the interphase of a glass fibre/vinyl ester composite designed for wind turbine applications. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 942 (1). 012031. ISSN 1757-899X (https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/942/1/012031)

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Abstract

The use of advanced fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites in the renewable energy sector has significantly increased over the last decade. However, the durability and damage tolerance of such materials when exposed to environmental conditions still remains under investigation. This creates some uncertainty for their introduction and development in the sector. The scope of the present work is the assessment of the durability of composite laminates and structures through providing a fundamental understanding of the micromechanical performance of the glass fibre/vinyl ester fibre-matrix interphase as a function of the environmental history. An accelerated ageing study has been conducted in order to create a correlation between the moisture sorption at the interphase and its effect in the micromechanical performance of the composite system. The composite interphase performance has been assessed by measuring the Interfacial Shear Strength (IFSS) using the microbond test. An estimation of the moisture sorption of each microbond sample has been obtained by the gravimetric analysis of thin film neat resins specimens of similar thickness to the microbond sample diameter. These results have also been coupled to results obtained by Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Additionally, moisture induced degradation has been characterised by recording the change in the Tg of the vinyl ester resin as a function of environmental ageing by a number of thermal analysis techniques.

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