STUDY ON THE DETERIORATION OF PULTRUDED GFRP IN OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT AND THE PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF SURFACE COATING

Abstract

 Top coating on GFRP has protective effect in outdoor environment, however its protective mechanism is not well known in the detail yet. The authors carried out an outdoor exposure test using three types of pultruded GFRP having varied layer systems with or without top coating for 10 years. Retrieved specimens were evaluated their deterioration state with visual observations with naked and microscope. Mechanical properties such as tensile test and in-plane shear test and immersion test for retrieved specimens were carried out in order to evaluate the protective effect of top coating, especially its shield performance against water and light of top coating.