Interlayer shear strength of polymer composite materials during long term climatic ageing

Polymer composite materials for aviation application based on carbon, organic and glass fibers and epoxy binders were exposed for 10 years under the warm humid climatic conditions of the city of Batumi on the Black Sea coast. In the process of the exposure interlayer shear strength was measured and compared with other mechanical and physical characteristics measured in the center and surface layers of exposed plates. It has been shown that the surface of composites exposed to solar radiation is destroyed and disrupted to a greater extent than the inner layers. The gradient of mechanical properties across the thickness of a specimen can be significant.