Study of Durability of Epoxy Bonded Joints in Aqueous Environments

There are instances where efficiency and safety may be compromised as a result of wear and tear of fluid transporting pipe systems. Consequently, it is sometimes necessary to shut down the entire operation to fix the problem. Thus, it is worth evaluating other methods that can repair the damage for a temporary period without shutting down the operation while a new pipe is being constructed. The objective was to evaluate the durability of the epoxy bonded steel in aqueous environments that might be the conditions of such a repair. EPON(registered mark)828 was chosen as the epoxy resin, and dicyandiamide and polyamidoamine were two types of curing agent evaluated in this study. The epoxy bonded steels were exposed in either distilled water or 3.4% NaCl solution for various time periods. The mechanical strengths of the bonded joints were evaluated using a three-point flexure test. The neat epoxy samples were also aged under the same conditions, and three-point flexure test and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) were performed to evaluate their mechanical properties. The moisture uptake of the neat epoxy increased with exposure time, and the bending modulus of the neat epoxy decreased with aging time and moisture uptake. It was found that the interfacial shear strength decreased with aging time for both epoxy bonded systems. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), optical microscopy, and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) were used to determine the locus of failure of the bonded joints. It was concluded that failure occurred cohesively within the oxide layer if oxides were present on the substrate surface prior to the bonding procedure.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Materials Science and Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Materials Science and Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1998

Author dc:creator

• Lian, Michelle K.

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Love, Brian J.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Grant, John Wallace
• Kander, Ronald G.
• Keiser, James R.

• three-point flexure
• steel
• epoxy
• underwater repair

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-81498-172716

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/36981