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Durability of Composites Under Severe Environmental Conditions

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A special issue of Journal of Composites Science (ISSN 2504-477X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2019) | Viewed by 26010

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Frédéric Jacquemin

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Guest Editor

Institute for Civil and Mechanical Engineering Research, University of Nantes, 44035 Nantes, France
Interests: durability of composite materials; hygro-thermo-mechanical coupling; multiscale and multiphysics approaches
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The properties and the behavior of composite materials under aggressive conditions are often drastically modified. This occurs when the material is subject to a severe environment of low or high temperature, moisture or immersed environments, high pressure. Under these severe conditions, the material undergoes important physical and/or chemical modifications. It is then very interesting to understand the behavior of materials under severe conditions in order to predict numerically their durability. Measurements in extreme conditions are both a scientific challenge, to understand the properties of materials, and a technical challenge to study the material in specific and very severe environments.

This Special Issue focuses on durability and ageing of composite materials and structures, encompassing all the mechanical, physical and chemical mechanisms promoting degradation of structured materials exposed to aggressive environments and to extreme operating conditions.

Prof. Dr. Frédéric Jacquemin
Guest Editor

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. Journal of Composites Science is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 1800 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

Multi-physics/multi-scale approaches
Diffuso-mechanics couplings
Physics and chemistry of degradation
Effects of degradation on the mechanical behaviour at the materials and the structural level

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 7648 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermal Ageing of a Hybrid Composite Rod for Next Generation Overhead Power Lines

by Gaelle Minard and Xavier Colin

J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(4), 103; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jcs3040103 - 27 Nov 2019

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1885

Abstract

The thermal stability of a hybrid composite rod, made of epoxy-anhydride matrix reinforced with both unidirectional carbon and glass fibers, has been evaluated between 180 and 210 °C in different nitrogen/oxygen gas mixtures with several conventional but complementary laboratory techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, thermogravimetry, differential calorimetry, optical microscopy, and three-point bending. Thermolysis predominates in the carbon-fiber core, where it induces an efficient chain scission process, leading to a decrease in the glass transition temperature and the formation of small macromolecular fragments, presumably diacids. These very polar fragments remain trapped in the carbon core, where they initiate micro-cavities when their concentration exceeds the solubility threshold. These micro-cavities accumulate in rich-matrix regions, where they coalesce to form apparent large cracks. They are thus responsible for the catastrophic decrease in elastic and fracture properties of the composite rod. In contrast, thermal oxidation affects a too thin superficial layer (typically 60 µm) of the glass-fiber shell to change significantly the global mechanical behavior of the composite rod. Based on these experimental observations, a kinetic model has been proposed to predict the initiation and development of damage in the composite rod. Its validity is successfully checked by comparing its predictions with the experimental results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability of Composites Under Severe Environmental Conditions)

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17 pages, 4349 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Statistical-Probabilistic Approach to the Lifetime and Strength Degradation of E-Glass Filaments and Bundles under Constant Tensile Loading in Water

by Jacques Lamon and Mohamed R’Mili

J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(3), 78; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jcs3030078 - 01 Aug 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2367

Abstract

The present paper discusses the statistical features of static fatigue for E-glass multifilament tows in water. In such an aggressive environment, the glass fibres are sensitive to slow crack propagation from micron-sized flaws. Rupture and interrupted static fatigue tests under constant deformation in water, as well as tensile tests in inert environments on tows after fatigue were carried out on E-glass fibre tows that comprised around 2000 single filaments. The slow crack growth constants and the fast fracture statistical parameters for filaments were extracted from the outcome of experiments on tows, i.e., the load relaxation curves during fatigue and stress-strain curves during the tensile tests. These parameters provide a pertinent data base for the prediction of several characteristics in various conditions of fatigue for filaments and tows including statistical distributions of lifetimes and residual strengths, strength degradation during fatigue, size effects on lifetime and tow residual behaviour. Equations for calculation of filament lifetime and residual strength, and tow tensile behaviour were based on the model of slow crack growth and Weibull statistical distribution. Calculations using strength-probability-time relations provided insight into static fatigue behaviour of tows in water. Validity of the approach was assessed by the comparison of experimental and predicted tow residual behaviours. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability of Composites Under Severe Environmental Conditions)

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24 pages, 5713 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Durability of Composite Materials under Severe Temperature Conditions: Influence of Moisture Content and Prediction of Thermo-Mechanical Properties During a Fire

by Juan Pablo Márquez Costa, Vincent Legrand and Sylvain Fréour

J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(2), 55; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jcs3020055 - 01 Jun 2019

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3759

Abstract

The main objective of the present study was to develop a fire thermal model able to predict the evolution of the temperature and decomposition gradient across a laminated composite structure when exposed to fire. The thermal response of composite laminate made of organic polymer matrix was investigated under severe temperature conditions as samples were exposed to high temperatures up to 750 °C. The highlight is that a behavior law for water is included in our thermo-mechanical model to estimate effects due to a moisture content field on the thermal response of composite laminates. In particular, porosity and gas pressure are strongly influenced by the presence of water in the material and modify the thermal behavior accordingly. This enabled us to propose a new approach that can be used for the prediction of hygro-thermo-chemico-mechanical post-combustion properties in a very large number of material and fire scenarios. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability of Composites Under Severe Environmental Conditions)

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14 pages, 2434 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Butyl Rubber-Based Composite: Thermal Degradation and Prediction of Service Lifetime

by Phuong Nguyen-Tri, Ennouri Triki and Tuan Anh Nguyen

J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(2), 48; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jcs3020048 - 05 May 2019

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6871

Abstract

Butyl rubber-based composite (BRC) is one of the most popular materials for the fabrication of protective gloves against chemical and mechanical risks. However, in many workplaces, such as metal manufacturing or automotive mechanical services, its mechanical hazards usually appear together with metalworking fluids (MWFs). The presence of these contaminants, particularly at high temperatures, could modify its properties due to the scission, the plasticization and the crosslinking of the polymer network and thus lead to severe modification of the mechanical and physicochemical properties of material. This work aims to determine the effect of temperature and a metalworking fluid on the mechanical behavior of butyl rubber composite, dealing with crosslinking density, cohesion forces and the elastic constant of BRC, based on Mooney–Rivlin’s theory. The effect of temperature with and without MWFs on the thermo-dynamical properties and morphology of butyl membranes was also investigated. The prediction of service lifetime was then evaluated from the extrapolation of the Arrhenius plot at different temperatures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability of Composites Under Severe Environmental Conditions)

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12 pages, 2323 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reactive Molecular Dynamics Study of the Thermal Decomposition of Phenolic Resins

by Marcus Purse, Grace Edmund, Stephen Hall, Brendan Howlin, Ian Hamerton and Stephen Till

J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(2), 32; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jcs3020032 - 28 Mar 2019

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3950

Abstract

The thermal decomposition of polyphenolic resins was studied by reactive molecular dynamics (RMD) simulation at elevated temperatures. Atomistic models of the polyphenolic resins to be used in the RMD were constructed using an automatic method which calls routines from the software package Materials Studio. In order to validate the models, simulated densities and heat capacities were compared with experimental values. The most suitable combination of force field and thermostat for this system was the Forcite force field with the Nosé–Hoover thermostat, which gave values of heat capacity closest to those of the experimental values. Simulated densities approached a final density of 1.05–1.08 g/cm³ which compared favorably with the experimental values of 1.16–1.21 g/cm³ for phenol-formaldehyde resins. The RMD calculations were run using LAMMPS software at temperatures of 1250 K and 3000 K using the ReaxFF force field and employing an in-house routine for removal of products of condensation. The species produced during RMD correlated with those found experimentally for polyphenolic systems and rearrangements to form cyclopropane moieties were observed. At the end of the RMD simulations a glassy carbon char resulted. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability of Composites Under Severe Environmental Conditions)

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Review

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38 pages, 4239 KiB

Open AccessReview

Critical Review of the Parameters Affecting the Effectiveness of Moisture Absorption Treatments Used for Natural Composites

by Ahmad Y. Al-Maharma and Naser Al-Huniti

J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(1), 27; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jcs3010027 - 18 Mar 2019

Cited by 81 | Viewed by 6778

Abstract

Natural composites can be fabricated through reinforcing either synthetic or bio-based polymers with hydrophilic natural fibers. Ultimate moisture absorption resistance at the fiber–matrix interface can be achieved when hydrophilic natural fibers are used to reinforce biopolymers due to the high degree of compatibility between them. However, the cost of biopolymers is several times higher than that of their synthetic counterparts, which hinders their dissemination in various industries. In order to produce economically feasible natural composites, synthetic resins are frequently reinforced with hydrophilic fibers, which increases the incompatibility issues such as the creation of voids and delamination at fiber–matrix interfaces. Therefore, applying chemical and/or physical treatments to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks is of primary importance. However, it is demonstrated through this review study that these treatments do not guarantee a sufficient improvement of the moisture absorption properties of natural composites, and the moisture treatments should be applied under the consideration of the following parameters: (i) type of hosting matrix; (ii) type of natural fiber; (iii) loading of natural fiber; (iv) the hybridization of natural fibers with mineral/synthetic counterparts; (v) implantation of nanofillers. Complete discussion about each of these parameters is developed through this study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Durability of Composites Under Severe Environmental Conditions)

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