Effects of immersion in sea water on mechanical properties of kevlar/vinyl ester composite material

Fiber-reinforced polymer composites have been used for various applications. There is increasing interest in the study of the seawater immersion effect of these materials. In this research, the alteration of tensile and shear behavior properties due to seawater absorption of the immersed Kevlar/Vinyl ester composite was evaluated. The composite materials were manufactured using vacuum assisted infusion method. ASTM D3039 and ASTM D5379 were used as the standards for tensile and shear tests. Tensile and shear performances were evaluated before and after immersion in seawater for 11 days. The experimental results show that tensile strength decreased by 7.5% from an average value of 421.18 MPa to 389.27 MPa. Whereas, the shear strength decreased by 1.6% from an average value of 14.6 MPa to 14.46 MPa.