• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.357-363
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• 2008

This study investigates the durability of carbon/epoxy composites for use on train car bodies under a salt water spray environment. Salt water solution with 5% NaCl, similar to natural salt water, was used for the salt water environmental tests. The specimens were obtained from a composite panel consisting of an epoxy matrix reinforced with T700 carbon fabric. The specimens were exposed to the salt water environment for up to 12 months. Mechanical tests were performed to obtain tensile properties, flexural properties, and shear properties. Dynamic mechanical analysis was used to measure such thermal properties as storage modulus, loss modulus, and tan $\delta$. Also FT/IR tests were conducted to investigate changes in chemical structure with exposure. The results revealed that fiber-dominated mechanical properties were not affected much by exposure time, but matrix-dominated mechanical properties decreased with increasing exposure time. Storage modulus was not very sensitive to exposure time, but glass transition temperature was affected, slightly decreasing with increasing exposure time. Although the peak intensity of FT/IR curves was affected slightly by exposure time, the peak shape and peak location of FT/IR curves were not noticeably changed. Carbon/epoxy composites used for this study were relatively stable to the salt water environment.