Sea Water Ageing of Composites for Ocean Energy Conversion Systems: Influence of Glass Fibre Type on Static Behaviour

Type Article
Date 2012-06
Language English
Author(s) Boisseau Amelie1, Davies PeterORCID1, Thiebaud Frederic2, 3
Affiliation(s) 1 : IFREMER, Ctr Brest, Mat & Struct Grp, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
2 : Univ Franche Comte, DMA FEMTO ST, F-25000 Besancon, France.
3 : MAHYTEC, F-39100 Dole, France.
Source Applied Composite Materials (0929-189X) (Springer), 2012-06 , Vol. 19 , N. 3-4 , P. 459-473
DOI 10.1007/s10443-011-9219-6
WOS© Times Cited 29
Keyword(s) Composite material, Sea water ageing, Failure mechanism, Flexure, Tidal turbine
Abstract Composite material components will be an essential part of ocean energy recovery devices, and their long term durability in sea water must be guaranteed. Despite extensive experience for boat structures and wind turbines few data exist to design structures subjected to a combination of mechanical loads and sea water immersion. This paper presents the first results from an experimental study, performed jointly with fibre manufacturers, and a resin supplier, to fill this gap. The experimental study is completed by numerical modelling to simulate the coupling between water absorption and mechanical behaviour. Sea water ageing is shown to result in a drop in quasi-static mechanical properties and a change in flexural mode from compression to tension at longer ageing times, which is consistent with results from the numerical simulations.
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