Tidal turbine blade composites - A review on the effects of hygrothermal aging on the properties of CFRP - ScienceDirect
The aging of polymer-composites is a ubiquitous problem that leads to the degradation of mechanical properties, reducing the service life of an engineered structure, and potentialising premature, catastrophic modes of failure. Polymer-composites used in moist or aqueous environment are subject to moisture influenced changes that affect their physical, chemical and mechanical properties. The coupled problem of polymer-composites aging within an aqueous environment is currently seeing a surge in research efforts. This is partly due to that materials used in renewable energy structures, such as tidal turbine blades, are now high-priority concerns and there is mounting societal pressure for the development of clean energy technology. The coupling of aging and water ingress in polymer-composites is not a trivial subject and is a very slow process, but as a consequence of clean energy technology concerns, there is an ever growing impetus towards the research of exacerbated rates of water aging by the integration of a third influence, heat. Heat is a means by which the rate of aging can be magnified and this combination of heat induced aging with water ingress, termed
