Resistance to aging research in sea water composites with the polyester-glass recyclate

Composites are materials used for various types of constructions in the automotive industry, aviation, and shipbuilding. Due to the wide use of these materials, there is a problem with their recycling. Such material requires appropriate processing technology, which has been developed to obtain a recyclate with a specific granulation. The use of hand laminating technology made composites with the addition of polyester and glass recyclate with granulation of 1.2, as well as content: 0%, 20%, 30%. These types of materials are exposed to various types of atmospheric factors that affect their durability. Aging is defined as changes in the composite when exposed to atmospheric conditions, such as sunlight, temperature, thermal cycles, water in various forms and wind. This article uses recycled polyester and glass composites to investigate the effect of aging in seawater on their strength properties. These tests can be used to pre-assess the applicability of newly developed materials as construction or protective coatings. They were carried out on a specially prepared station for accelerated tests, with elevated temperature (35ºCC), as well as brine spray imitating sea atmosphere. The method is used to accelerate the aging processes occurring in composite materials. Samples were subjected to cycles of 5, 30 and 60 days respectively. Samples were weighed and measured before and after each cycle. In order to investigate the effect of aging on strength properties, the composites underwent a static tensile test in accordance with the standard for plastics. Studies have shown that as a result of the aging process, the strength properties decrease slightly, which affects the favourable assessment of these materials as constructional.