Evaluation of Mechanical Properties of Polymer Composites Profiles for Marine Applications

Polymer matrix composites (PMC) are widely used in the fabrication of marine vehicles, because of its unique set of properties of high strength, light weight and corrosion resistance. Epoxy and vinyl ester are two widely used resin systems with glass reinforcement for naval applications. Post-curing of epoxy resins results in improving the glass transition temperature with a corresponding increase in tensile strength. Vinyl esters based composites are equally popular in marine applications due to comparable mechanical properties with superior moisture resistance compared to epoxy resins. The stiffness of PMCs used for structural applications for marine vehicles can be significantly improved by forming it into profiles with required sections such as L, C and I. Structures requiring a combination of vibration damping and stiffness can be provided by having sandwich structure, with foam or honeycomb interlayer. In this paper the mechanical properties of different sections of PMCs and sandwich structures have been compared and analyzed.