Effects of wood-preservative treatments on mechanical properties of E-glass/phenolic pultruded composite reinforcement for wood

Laminated timbers reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) material were treated with common preservative chemicals including oilborne (organo- and organometallic) and acid- and amine-based waterborne treatments, and the effects on the mechanical properties of FRP material were investigated. ASTM D 3039 (longitudinal and transverse tensile) and D 2344 (short beam interlaminar shear) tests were used for mechanical characterization of preservative-treated E-glass/phenolic pultruded material. Although the longitudinal elastic modulus was unaffected, some longitudinal strength losses were recorded for waterborne treated FRP coupons. A simple model was used to compute the average fiber strength within preservative-treated FRP coupons. These results were supported by scanning electron and light microscopy analyses of single glass fibers taken from failed FRP coupons. The work also includes a discussion of property losses that occur in the presence of threshold preservative retention levels, and how these losses affect material capacity reduction factors (knock-down factors) used in design criteria. Recommendations for use of FRP composites for wood reinforcement in exterior environments are also provided for civil engineers and the FRP-wood reinforcement industry.

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