Water Ingress

An important property of any resin, particularly in a marine environment, is its ability to withstand degradation from water ingress. All resins will absorb some moisture, adding to a laminate's weight, but what is more significant is how the absorbed water affects the resin and resin/fibre bond in a laminate, leading to a gradual and long-term loss in mechanical properties. Both polyester and vinylester resins are prone to water degradation due to the presence of hydrolysable ester groups in their molecular structures. As a result, a thin polyester laminate can be expected to retain only 65% of its inter-laminar shear strength after immersion in water for a period of one year, whereas an epoxy laminate immersed for the same period will retain around 90%.

The figure above demonstrates the effects of water on an epoxy and polyester woven glass laminate, which have been subjected to a water soak at 100°C. This elevated temperature soaking gives accelerated degradation properties for the immersed laminate.

David Cripps, Gurit