Impact of Prolonged Exposure of Eleven Years to Hot Seawater on the Degradation of a Thermoset Composite

This paper presents a long-term experimental investigation of E-glass/epoxy composites’ durability exposed to seawater at different temperatures. The thermoset composite samples were exposed to 23 °C, 45 °C and 65 °C seawater for a prolonged exposure time of 11 years. The mechanical performance as a function of exposure time was evaluated and a strength-based technique was used to assess the durability of the composites. The experimental results revealed that the tensile strength of E-glass/epoxy composite was reduced by 8.2%, 29.7%, and 54.4% after immersion in seawater for 11 years at 23 °C, 45 °C, and 65 °C, respectively. The prolonged immersion in seawater resulted in the plasticization and swelling in the composite. This accelerated the rate of debonding between the fibers and matrix. The failure analysis was conducted to investigate the failure mode of the samples. SEM micrographs illustrated a correlation between the fiber/matrix debonding, potholing, fiber pull-out, river line marks and matrix cracking with deterioration in the tensile characteristics of the thermoset composite.