Advanced Moisture Modeling of Polymer Composites

With increasing usage of composite materials, study of the performance of composites exposed to different environments is of great interest. Over time, composite materials absorb moisture from the surrounding environment and this increase in moisture affects the structural integrity of the part. To ensure the structural integrity, determination of moisture concentration inside the composite structure as a function of time and position is important. Test methods have to simulate typical worst-case aircraft service water vapor environment: 80°F / 82% relative humidity (RH) for 10 years. Currently, accelerated diffusion procedures with 160°F / 95% RH environment are used to reduce the time period of the testing. Conducting the experiments in maintained test environments for elongated period of 10 years is a tedious process. Evaluation of moisture behavior of composites through simulation studies would be time and cost saving. Missouri S&T project with Bell Helicopter will have two tasks. In Task 1, commercial finite element codes will be used to simulate the 3-D model of a homogeneous (one type of material) composite and generate the hygroscopic effect (T/RH profile). In Task 2, hybrid material configurations are considered and interface resistivity is taken into account. In both the tasks, the moisture distribution through the thickness of the composite will be evaluated.

• Record URL:
  http://transportation.mst.edu/research/r296/

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $25000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  DTRT06-G-0014

  00034385

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla

  328 Butler-Carlton Hall
  1401 N. Pine Street
  Rolla, MO  United States  65401
• Principal Investigators:

  Chandrashekhara, K

• Start Date: 20120218
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20130831
• Source Data: RiP Project 29380

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Composite materials; Humidity; Moisture damage; Polymers; Structural analysis
• Uncontrolled Terms: Relative humidity
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Energy; Highways; Research; I30: Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01532659
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Infrastructure Engineering Studies
• Contract Numbers: DTRT06-G-0014, 00034385
• Files: RIP
• Created Date: Aug 1 2014 1:15AM