| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study is focused around the mechanical behavior of a selection of glass reinforced polymers that undergo a four month period of chemical aging. The chosen conditions that the materials undergo represent a glycol/water thermal management system of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Based on the results of this study, a better understanding of the materials’ properties was to achieve in order to make a good selection of materials for the future thermal management system parts of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Included in this piece of literature is the methodology and process of chemical aging, as well as the methodology and results of the materials’ mechanical tests. Such tests include the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) for the determination of the materials’ glass transition temperature (T(g)) and the tensile testing for the determination of the stress, strain and elongation modulus of the materials. To compliment these results pH/conductivity/TDS measurements were taken across the experiment’s four month period. These measurements were to help gain a relative perspective of the materials’ ion leaching capabilities. Last but not least, throughout the duration of the tests each batch of samples underwent infrared testing in order to realize the chemical-bond changes the chemical aging did to the materials. | |