The effect of sea water immersion on the durability and performance of the PET fibre reinforced epoxy composites were experimentally investigated. The reinforcing fibres and their respective composite samples were immersed in artificial seawater over a period of 120 days. The extent of degradation post immersion was studied using thermal gravimetric analysis. Water uptake behaviour of the composites and the losses in their mechanical properties were studied by testing them under tensile, flexural and impact loads before and after immersion. Effect of degradation in interfacial region and the fracture morphology in the failed samples were analysed through SEM micrographs. The outcome of these results was compared with the glass fibre reinforced epoxy counterparts, which are often used in today’s marine structures. It was found that the glass–epoxy composites experienced about 8% decrease in their overall mechanical properties while polyester-epoxy composites remain unaffected to seawater ageing. Therefore, PET-epoxy material combinations can be approached to cater the long term structural requirements of maritime applications and further open up new gateways for utilization of recycled hazardous plastics.

实验研究了海水浸泡对PET纤维增强环氧复合材料耐久性和性能的影响。将增强纤维及其各自的复合样品浸入人工海水中120天。使用热重量分析法研究浸泡后的降解程度。通过在浸渍之前和之后在拉伸，弯曲和冲击载荷下对复合材料进行测试，研究了复合材料的吸水性能及其机械性能的损失。通过SEM显微照片分析了界面区域的降解和失效样品的断裂形态的影响。将这些结果与玻璃纤维增​​强的环氧对等物进行了比较，后者在当今的海洋结构中经常使用。研究发现，玻璃-环氧树脂复合材料的整体机械性能下降了8％，而聚酯-环氧树脂复合材料仍然不受海水老化的影响。因此，可以采用PET-环氧树脂材料组合来满足海事应用的长期结构要求，并进一步开辟利用回收的有害塑料的新途径。