MEASUREMENT OF WATER DIFFUSION COEFFICIENT FOR UPE/PVC BLEND REINFORCED WITH E-GLASS FIBERS

Abstract

The objective of this work was to study the influence of weight percentage
ratios of (Unsaturated Polyester/Poly vinyl chloride) blends and E-glass
fibre content on the diffusion coefficients of the blends from the
relationship between water weight gain Mt and diffusivity for water
immersed samples. Unreinforced and reinforced ( by one or two layers of
chopped E-glass fibers) samples were prepared by hand lay up method
with the ratios (95%UPE+5%PVC, 90%UPE+10%PVC and
%85UPE+15%PVC), the prepared samples were immersed for 60 days in
water to get the absorption curves. The results of laboratory examinations
show the absorption curves of water gain Mt against the square root of the
immersion timet are gradual increase until saturation then deviate lower
due to weight loss of the immersed samples. The diffusion coefficients
values have been calculated from the plotted curves, the calculated values
reveal diffusion coefficients values increased with the increasing of PVC
weight percentage and fibre content.