Fibre Reinforced Polymers Degradation

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2022) | Viewed by 10768

Special Issue Editors

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
Interests: electrochemistry; corrosion and coating; FRP degradation; 2D materials; thermodynamics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
Interests: FRP; durability; FRP reinforced structures; thin-walled structures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Owing to their outstanding mechanical characteristics and corrosion resistant properties, fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) have attracted significant attention. A great number of studies have been conducted on them for numerous applications (automotive, aerospace, marine and civil engineering). In recent years, FRPs’ durability performance has attracted great attention for civil engineering applications and some current practices include concrete reinforcing rods and concrete confining tubes, retrofitting wraps, composite bridge decks, and all composite FRP structures.  

With the increasing interest in FRPs applications, an understanding of these systems is continuously progressing.

This Special Issue will focus on the fibre reinforced polymers degradation; including, but not limited to, the following areas:

  • Mechanical properties of FRPs exposed to different environments
  • Durability of FRPs in different environments
  • The long-term performance of FRPs
  • Interaction between FRPs and different environments
  • Mechanisms of bonding and bonding degradation

Original research papers as well as review articles are welcome.

Dr. Saad Al-Saadi
Dr. Milad Bazli
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP)
  • Mechanical properties
  • Long-term performance
  • Degradation mechanisms
  • Durability

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

20 pages, 4890 KiB  
Article
Electron Beam Irradiation: A Method for Degradation of Composites Based on Natural Rubber and Plasticized Starch
by Elena Manaila, Gabriela Craciun, Daniel Ighigeanu, Ion Bogdan Lungu, Marius Dumitru and Maria Daniela Stelescu
Polymers 2021, 13(12), 1950; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13121950 - 11 Jun 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2461
Abstract
Polymeric composites based on natural rubber (NR) and plasticized starch (PS) obtained by peroxide cross-linking have been subjected to electron beam irradiation in order to investigate their degradation. The amount of PS ranged from 10 to 50 phr and the irradiation dose from [...] Read more.
Polymeric composites based on natural rubber (NR) and plasticized starch (PS) obtained by peroxide cross-linking have been subjected to electron beam irradiation in order to investigate their degradation. The amount of PS ranged from 10 to 50 phr and the irradiation dose from 150 to 450 kGy. Irradiation was performed in atmospheric conditions using a linear electron accelerator of 5.5 MeV. Changes in chemical, physical, structural, and morphological properties of composites were correlated with variables, such as PS loading and irradiation dose. Thus, mechanical properties, gel fraction, cross-linking degree, water uptake, weight loss in toluene/water were compared with those obtained before irradiation. The changes in structure and morphology were studied by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Both PS loading and irradiation dose were found to be responsible for the degradation installing. Moreover, it has been shown that at the dose of 450 kGy, chain scission is dominant over cross-linking. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fibre Reinforced Polymers Degradation)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

20 pages, 16524 KiB  
Article
Rupture of an Industrial GFRP Composite Mitered Elbow Pipe
by Elsadig Mahdi Saad, Samer Gowid and John John Cabibihan
Polymers 2021, 13(9), 1478; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13091478 - 03 May 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3059
Abstract
This paper examines the immature rupture of glass fiber reinforced plastic composite (GFRP) mitered elbow pipes. The GFRP composite mitered elbow pipe’s lifespan was twenty-five years; however, the pipes in question experienced immature failures, resulting in the reduction of their lifetimes to seven, [...] Read more.
This paper examines the immature rupture of glass fiber reinforced plastic composite (GFRP) mitered elbow pipes. The GFRP composite mitered elbow pipe’s lifespan was twenty-five years; however, the pipes in question experienced immature failures, resulting in the reduction of their lifetimes to seven, nine, and ten years, respectively. The GFRP cooling water mitered elbow pipe’s service conditions operate at a pressure of up to 7 bar and temperatures between 15–36 °C. The root cause of failure was determined using visual inspection, analytical, microstructural, mechanical characterizations, and chemical analysis. The initial visualization inspection revealed an improper joint between the composite overwrapped and the straight pipe sections. Mechanical properties along the axial, hoop and 45° from the axial direction were obtained. The results from the analytical analysis indicated that the elbow might withstand the operating pressure depending on the quality factor, which was confirmed to be low due to the elbow joint’s improper fabrication process. As evidence of this, the numerical analyses’ results indicated that the safety factor in withstanding the operating pressure of 5 bar is dropped down in the radial region where the thickness is reduced to simulate the failure zone. This study’s findings recommend that thickness of less than 15 mm be reinforced using overwrapped composites. It is recommended for future installations that the fabrication process be appropriately monitored and controlled and avoids using 45°/−45° fiber orientation and multiple layers of chopped strand mat glass fiber. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fibre Reinforced Polymers Degradation)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

38 pages, 6304 KiB  
Review
Bonded CFRP/Steel Systems, Remedies of Bond Degradation and Behaviour of CFRP Repaired Steel: An Overview
by Daniel Borrie, Saad Al-Saadi, Xiao-Ling Zhao, R. K. Singh Raman and Yu Bai
Polymers 2021, 13(9), 1533; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13091533 - 10 May 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4344
Abstract
This literature review has examined the use of FRP composite materials as a potential retrofitting technique for civil structures. Importantly, the various material properties, bond mechanisms, durability issues and fatigue resistance have been discussed. Studies exploring the performance of CFRP repaired steel have [...] Read more.
This literature review has examined the use of FRP composite materials as a potential retrofitting technique for civil structures. Importantly, the various material properties, bond mechanisms, durability issues and fatigue resistance have been discussed. Studies exploring the performance of CFRP repaired steel have strongly indicated its potential as a rehabilitation material. These systems offer many improvements over the current bulky and less chemically resistant methods of bolting or welding steel plate patches. This review has established and highlighted the factors that affect CFRP/steel bond durability, namely surface preparation, curing, corrosion, fatigue loading, temperature and moisture ingress through studies that focus on their effect. These studies, however, often focus on a single influencing factor or design criteria. Only limited studies have investigated multiple parameters applied simultaneously, even though they commonly occur together in industrial practice. This review aimed to summarise the numerous influencing parameters to give a clearer understanding of the relevance of CFRP repaired steel structures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fibre Reinforced Polymers Degradation)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop