Thermoplastic composite cylinders for underwater applications

A study of thermoplastic matrix composites has been performed to investigate their use in underwater applications such as oceanography, submarine, and sub-sea offshore structures. This article first presents six candidate materials. Results from simple mechanical and seawater aging screening tests on flat specimens are then described. Glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy composites are used as reference materials. Two materials emerged from this process, glass/PEI and carbon/PEEK. Cylinders of both were manufactured and subjected to hydrostatic pressure tests, and results are compared to those for glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy cylinders of similar geometry. The carbon/PEEK material appeared most promising. It resisted pressures in excess of 90 MPa and was retained for damage tolerance assessment studies. Drop weight impact damage zones were smaller in carbon/PEEK than carbon/epoxy for the same impact energies but the loss in residual collapse strength was more rapid in the thermoplastic composite. This was attributed to a change in failure mode, impact damage initiated a local buckling failure.

Keyword(s)

Damage tolerance, Glass/PEI, Carbon/PEEK, Aging, Hydrostatic pressure, Cylinder

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Davies Peter, Riou Luc, Mazeas Florence, Warnier Philippe (2005). Thermoplastic composite cylinders for underwater applications. Journal of Thermoplastic Composite Materials. 18 (5). 417-443. https://doi.org/10.1177/0892705705054397, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/1037/

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