Environment effect on fracture toughness of PVC/GRP sandwich composite in marine use

In this thesis environmental effect on fracture toughness of PVC/GRP sandwich composite materials in marine use was experimentally studied and finite element analysis was performed by a packet program to verify experimental studies.First of all ten PVC (Poly Vinly Chloride) core and GRP (Glass Reinforsed Plastic) face sandwich composite specimens were produced by hand lay up method. After that, side areas of the core of five specimens were painted by epoxy and conditioned in Turkish Standartization Enstitude (TSE). Finally, to investigate fracture toughness of specimens Mode I tensile test was conducted for all ten specimens.In conclusion, tensile tests were again performed to investigate tensile modulus and poisson ratios of dry and wet specimens which were required for FEM analysis. Finite element analysis results verified the test results by less than 1% error rate.