Tensile properties retention of aged carbon-FRP sheets made of fully and partially bio-based resins and conventional epoxy

摘要

This article investigates the environmental aging of two types of bio-resin carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) through immersion in saltwater at various temperatures, and compares results to conventional epoxy (E)-CFRP. The two types are: a fully bio-resin, namely furfural alcohol (FA), derived from corn-cobs and sugarcane, and the second is a partial bio-resin, namely epoxidized pine oil blend (EP) extracted from pine tree sap. Control specimens showed that EP resin resulted in similar CFRP strength and modulus to E resin, whereas FA resin resulted in a 9% lower strength and 14% higher modulus. These were shown by the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to be statistically insignificant. After 240 days exposure, tensile strength retentions of EP-CFRP at 23 degrees C, 40 degrees C, and 50 degrees C were 97%, 98%, and 92%, respectively, while those of FA-CFRP were 83%, 81%, and 82%. For reference, retentions of E-CFRP were 101%, 90%, and 95%. ANOVA showed that the differences in retentions between EP- and E-CFRP are statistically insignificant at all temperatures, while the differences between FA- and E-CFRP are significant at 23 degrees C and 50 degrees C after 240 days only. Also, the reductions in strength over the 240 days for each resin type are insignificant, except for FA-CFRP at 50 degrees C. CFRP generally suffered remarkably less deterioration than glass-FRP at elevated temperatures, for both E and FA resins. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:2081-2092, 2018. (c) 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers