Multi-station tensile creep testing facility

A new water-cured fiberglass reinforced polymer known as Aquapreg(R)/Aquawrap(R) has been developed by Air Logistics Corp. of Pasadena, CA. This product has been used in several infrastructure applications, including column wrapping, aluminum pipe retrofits and repairs of in-place pipelines. Thus, the environmental durability of this material system is of great importance, Various non-ambient conditions can have tremendous effects on the performance of a material. A study was undertaken with the University of Wyoming's Composite Materials Research Group to establish the ambient and non-ambient tensile creep response of the Aquapreg(R)/Aquawrap(R) system An innovative multi-station creep test apparatus was fabricated to facilitate the timely testing of multiple test specimens at various environmental conditions, from room temperature and elevated temperatures to immersion in an alkaline solution.