Abstract
Corrosion damage to FRP structures used in the chemical industry and in the pulp and paper mills is often related to the type of glass-fiber reinforcement used in the laminate. Most important is stress-corrosion cracking. The influence of the glass-fiber type on the performance of the FRP structure is often neglected and still only few data is available about the relation between the corrosion resistance of the glass-fiber reinforcement and the stress-corrosion resistance of the FRP structure itself. A comparative laboratory study was carried out to characterize both the corrosion resistance of four different types of glass-fiber in acidic and alkaline environment, and the stress-corrosion properties of the corresponding unidirectional and CSM (chopped strand mat) vinyl ester laminates. It was found that the corrosion resistance of the glass-fibers varies strongly. Furthermore, the results indicate that the stress-corrosion properties of the laminates correlate with the uniform corrosion resistance of the fibers. The performance and reliability of an FRP structure exposed to aggressive environments can be strongly improved by the choice of a corrosion-resistant fiber and the risk of stress-corrosion cracking can be reduced to a minimum level.
