Thermal wear of epoxy composite modified with rutile titanium dioxide

Epoxy composites have been widely used to properly bond the carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) applied in the structural strengthening of reinforced concrete members. However, due to the thermal wear the epoxy composite loses its mechanical properties when exposed to sunlight heating, especially at temperatures above the glass transition temperature (T-g). Therefore, this study discusses the scientific phenomena of thermal wear of epoxy composite modified with 10, 20 and 30% of titanium dioxide (TiO2). The specific heat capacity (c) and T-g of the epoxy composites were calculated from heat flow results obtained with the use of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The novelty of the article includes the presentation of the influence of sunlight energy on the thermal wear of epoxy composites modified with TiO2 particles, which occurs at temeperatures higher than T-g. This work also presents the methodology for calculating the energy and the heating time of epoxy resins.