Atmospheric corrosion of ordinary mild steel in the Arabian Gulf environment

Atmospheric corrosion tests were carried out on mild steel to study its corrosion behaviour in the Arabian Gulf environment. Results of exposure tests indicate that the atmospheric attack proceeds in a paralinear fashion during the first year of exposure. S.E.M. examination of the oxide scale showed extensive porosity, spallation and cracking with the appearance of platelike structures close to pitted sites. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the presence of γFeOOH, αFeOOH, αFe₂O₃ and Fe₃O₄. EDX analysis disclosed that specimen surface contaminants are primarily constituents of sea spray.     

Fabrication and characterization of novel zirconia filled glass fiber reinforced polyester hybrid composites

Novel hybrid glass fiber reinforced polyester composites (GFRPCs) filled with 1‐5 wt % microsized zirconia (ZrO₂) particles, were fabricated by hand lay‐up process followed by compression molding and evaluated their physical, mechanical and thermal behaviors. The consumption of styrene in cured GFRPCs was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The potential implementation of ZrO₂ particles lessened the void contents marginally and substantially enhanced the mechanical and thermal properties in the resultant hybrid composites. The GFRPCs filled with 4 wt % ZrO₂ illustrated noteworthy improvement in tensile strength (66.672 MPa) and flexural strength (67.890 MPa) while with 5 wt % ZrO₂ showed 63.93% rise in hardness, respectively, as compared to unfilled GFRPCs. Physical nature of polyester matrix for composites and an improved glass transition temperature (T_g) from 103 to 112 °C was perceived by differential scanning calorimetry thermograms. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that the thermal stability of GFRPCs was remarkably augmented with the addition of ZrO₂. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43615.