The effect of the ocean water immersion and UV ageing on the dynamic mechanical properties of the PPS/glass fiber composites

Abstract

Nowadays, the poly(phenylene sulfide) thermoplastic matrix composites have being utilized by most of the aerospace companies in order to replace a great quantity of the components made of aluminum, thermoset composites, or both and it is the reason they are being strongly considered to be utilized into marine structures, however, are quite often exposed to the environmental conditions that can damage them irreversibly, minimizing their qualities and compromising their performance. Depending on the aviation industry policy and requirements to learn more about these possible damages and increase the performance and the safety, this work aims to evaluate how the salt water and the UV light radiation conditioning affect the viscoelastic properties of the PPS/glass fiber laminates. Those viscoelastic experiments were performed by a DMA instrument before and after to submit the specimens to the conditioning and the experiments results were compared. Additionally, the moisture absorption mechanism after immersion in the artificial ocean solution and the material surface analysis after UV conditioning were investigated. According to the results found in this work, it can be concluded that the PPS/glass fiber absorbed approximately 0.3% of moisture into artificial ocean water conditioning under 60°C and this thermoplastic laminate exhibits moisture absorption according to the Fick’s law, since the n constant experimental value was around 0.5.