Aging behavior and modeling studies of unsaturated polyester resin and unsaturated polyester resin-based blends

This chapter deals with various cases of degradation of unsaturated polyester resin (UPR)-based materials (composites with polyester matrices and polyester interpenetrated networks). The consequences of degradation mainly on mechanical and engineering properties are presented from a structure-relationships point of view. Two main kinds of mechanisms are presented, namely physical (chemicals and water penetration) and chemical mechanisms (hydrolysis, radiolysis, photolysis and photooxidation, and thermal oxidation) together with experimental trackers, existing kinetic models, and some of their available parameters. It seems in particular that the lifetime prediction of UPR-based materials submitted to chemical aging remains an open issue due to the nonideality of networks