Effect of hygrothermal environment on composite bonded joint

Abstract

The objective of this project is to identify the effect of varying hygrothermal environment of composite bonds joint in real working area. Two numbers of physical tests were conducted on carbon and glass fiber prepregs which include resin content test and gel time test. The mechanical test is conducted also to the both materials which is tensile test. Both materials were placed in three different locations with hygrothermal control and without hygrothermal control. The physical properties for both materials in location with humidity and temperature control stay constant and steady after 36 hours. However, the third location without temperature and humidity control affects the material to be out of specification. This is a problem as the manufacturer claimed that the handling life for both materials are 10 days with the certain manufacturing life without referring the humidity and temperature in Malaysia who had different wheatear that will affect the physical properties , mechanical properties and handling life of the materials. At the end of this report, the data showed the specimen tested in location 3 is affected by the humidity and temperature based on the data collected and results in gel time analysis, resin content analysis and the tensile stress analysis. The recommendations are suggested to both, manufacturer of the prepreg and also the customer in order to get better final quality product.