Effect of pre-load on diffusion characteristics of composite material

The aim of this project was to study the water absorption properties of the composite when immersed in salt water – the salt water had a salt to water concentration of 3.5%. The composite material being studied in this project was E-glass reinforced BMI. The composites were being subjected to 3 diff...

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Main Author: Chew, Xin Yun
Other Authors: Seah Leong Keey
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: 2014
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/60903
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-609032023-03-04T19:20:36Z Effect of pre-load on diffusion characteristics of composite material Chew, Xin Yun Seah Leong Keey School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering DRNTU::Engineering The aim of this project was to study the water absorption properties of the composite when immersed in salt water – the salt water had a salt to water concentration of 3.5%. The composite material being studied in this project was E-glass reinforced BMI. The composites were being subjected to 3 different environments – pre-tensile loading in salt water at room temperature, no pre-loading in salt water at room temperature and lastly, no pre-loading in 80°C salt water. This project consisted of 2 main sections and both will be discussed in this report. The first section was the design and fabrication of the test rig that will be used to exert a tensile force on the composite. The entire design process (chapters 3 and 4) will be discussed in detail in this report. The second section was the study of the water absorption properties of the composite. The experiment will be conducted over a span of 2000 hours and all the composite specimens will be immersed in 3.5% salt water throughout the experiment. The salinity of the saltwater will also be maintained to ensure that the results obtained are accurate. More details will be mentioned in the experimental procedures (chapter 5) section of this report. The report will end off with a section on the discussion of the results attained from the experiments executed. From this project, it was found that a decrease in fiber content, increase in water temperature and/or the existence of a tensile pre-load on the composite will all ultimately result in an increase in rate of water absorption i.e. diffusivity, as well as an increase in the equilibrium water content of the composite. Lesser fiber content will allow for more expansion of the matrix and thus increasing the amount of free volume within the composite to accommodate the water molecules. An increase in water temperature in which the composite is immersed in will lead to mechanical and chemical degradation of the composite structure, while the application of a tensile pre-load on the composite will cause an increase in mechanical degradation of pre-existing voids within the composite structure. Both types of degradation of composite structures will lead to an increase in amount of free volume within the composite, hence allowing more water molecules to diffuse in. A more thorough discussion of the results obtained from the experiments can be found in chapter 6 of this report. This report will be concluded with a chapter on future recommendations. Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) 2014-06-02T08:33:45Z 2014-06-02T08:33:45Z 2014 2014 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/60903 en Nanyang Technological University 81 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Engineering
spellingShingle DRNTU::Engineering
Chew, Xin Yun
Effect of pre-load on diffusion characteristics of composite material
description The aim of this project was to study the water absorption properties of the composite when immersed in salt water – the salt water had a salt to water concentration of 3.5%. The composite material being studied in this project was E-glass reinforced BMI. The composites were being subjected to 3 different environments – pre-tensile loading in salt water at room temperature, no pre-loading in salt water at room temperature and lastly, no pre-loading in 80°C salt water. This project consisted of 2 main sections and both will be discussed in this report. The first section was the design and fabrication of the test rig that will be used to exert a tensile force on the composite. The entire design process (chapters 3 and 4) will be discussed in detail in this report. The second section was the study of the water absorption properties of the composite. The experiment will be conducted over a span of 2000 hours and all the composite specimens will be immersed in 3.5% salt water throughout the experiment. The salinity of the saltwater will also be maintained to ensure that the results obtained are accurate. More details will be mentioned in the experimental procedures (chapter 5) section of this report. The report will end off with a section on the discussion of the results attained from the experiments executed. From this project, it was found that a decrease in fiber content, increase in water temperature and/or the existence of a tensile pre-load on the composite will all ultimately result in an increase in rate of water absorption i.e. diffusivity, as well as an increase in the equilibrium water content of the composite. Lesser fiber content will allow for more expansion of the matrix and thus increasing the amount of free volume within the composite to accommodate the water molecules. An increase in water temperature in which the composite is immersed in will lead to mechanical and chemical degradation of the composite structure, while the application of a tensile pre-load on the composite will cause an increase in mechanical degradation of pre-existing voids within the composite structure. Both types of degradation of composite structures will lead to an increase in amount of free volume within the composite, hence allowing more water molecules to diffuse in. A more thorough discussion of the results obtained from the experiments can be found in chapter 6 of this report. This report will be concluded with a chapter on future recommendations.
author2 Seah Leong Keey
author_facet Seah Leong Keey
Chew, Xin Yun
format Final Year Project
author Chew, Xin Yun
author_sort Chew, Xin Yun
title Effect of pre-load on diffusion characteristics of composite material
title_short Effect of pre-load on diffusion characteristics of composite material
title_full Effect of pre-load on diffusion characteristics of composite material
title_fullStr Effect of pre-load on diffusion characteristics of composite material
title_full_unstemmed Effect of pre-load on diffusion characteristics of composite material
title_sort effect of pre-load on diffusion characteristics of composite material
publishDate 2014
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/60903
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