Destructive and nondestructive evaluations of the effect of moisture absorption on the mechanical properties of polyester-based composites

In this study the effect of moisture absorption on the mechanical properties of glass-reinforced polyester composites is evaluated using both destructive and nondestructive tests. The composite resins were produced with two different production processes, while the mechanical properties of the composite materials were measured using DMA destruction tests. According to the DMA tests, the dependency in terms of temperature for the real component of the complex elastic modulus (E′), the imaginary component of the complex elastic modulus (E″), as well as tan(δ) can be traced. For a more efficient use of the composite materials, the compliance tensor was obtained with nondestructive tests based on ultrasound. A method for the generation and reception of Lamb waves in plates of composite materials is described, based on using air-coupling, low-frequency, ultrasound transducers in a pitch-catch configuration. The results of the nondestructive measurements made in this study are in good agreement with those obtained when using the DMA destructive tests.