Disintegration or degradation of a physical nature because of absorption, permeation, solvent action, or other factors Oxidation, where chemical bonds are attacked Hydrolysis, where ester linkages are attacked Radiation Thermal degradation involving depolymerization and possibly repolymerization Dehydration (rather uncommon) Any combination of the above Results of such attacks will appear in the form of softening, charring, crazing, delamination, embrittlement, discoloration, dissolving, or swelling. The corrosion of polymer matrix composites is also affected by two other factors: the nature of the laminate and in the case of thermoset resins, the cure. Improper or insufficient cure will adversely affect the corrosion resistance, whereas proper cure time and procedures will generally improve corrosion resistance.Polymeric materials in outdoor applications are exposed to weather extremes that can be extremely deleterious to the material. The most harmful weather component, exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, can cause embrittlement fading, surface cracking, and chalking.

After exposure to direct sunlightfor a period of years, most polymers exhibit reduced impact resistance, lower overall mechanical performance, and a change in appearance. The electromagnetic energy from the sunlight is normally divided into ultraviolet light, visible light, and infrared energy. Infrared energy consists of wavelengths longer than visible red wavelengths and starts above 760 nm. Visible light is defined as radiation between 400 and 760 nm. Ultraviolet light consists of radiation below 400 nm. The UV portion of the spectrum is further subdivided into UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C. Because UV is easily filtered by air masses, cloud cover, pollution, and other factors, the amount and spectrum of natural UVexposure is extremely variable. Because the sun is lower in the sky during the winter months, it is filtered through a greater air mass. This creates two important differences between summer and winter sunlight: changes in the intensity of the light and in the spectrum. During winter months, much of the damaging short wavelength UV light is filtered out. For example, the intensity of UV at 320 nm changes about 8 to 1 from summer to winter.

In addition, the short wavelength solar cutoff shifts from approximately 295 nm in summer to approximately 310 nm in winter. As a result, materials sensitive to UV below 320 nm would degrade only slightly, if at all, during the winter months. Photochemical degradation is caused by photons or light breaking chemical bonds. For each type of chemical bond, there is a critical threshold wavelength of light with enough energy to cause a reaction. Light of any wavelength shorter than the threshold can break a bond, but longer wavelengths cannot break it. Therefore, the short wavelength cutoff of a light source is of critical importance. If a particular polymer is only sensitive to UV light below 290 nm (the solar cutoff point), it will never experience photochemical deterioration outdoors. The ability to withstand weathering varies with the polymer type and within grades of a particular resin. Many resin grades are available with UV-absorbing additives to improve weather-ability. However, the higher molecular weight grades of a resin generally exhibit better weather ability than the lower molecular weight grades with comparable additives. In addition, some colors tend to weather better than others. Many of the physical property and chemical resistance differences of polymers stem directly from the type and arrangement of atoms in the polymer chains. In the periodic table, the basic elements of nature are placed into classes with similar properties, i.e., elements and compound that exhibit similar behavior.

These classes are alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals, rare earth series, other metals, nonmetals, and noble (inert) gases of particular importance and interest for thermoplasts is the category known as halogens that are found in the nonmetal category. The elements included in this category are fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine. Since these are the most electro-negative elements in the periodic table, they are the most likely to attract an electron from another element and become part of a stable structure. Of all the halogens, fluorine is the most electronegative, permitting it to strongly bond with carbon and hydrogen atoms, but not well with itself. The carbon–fluorine bond, the predominant bond in PVDF and PTFE that gives it such important properties, is among the strongest known organic compounds. The fluorine acts as a protective shield for other bonds of lesser strength within the main chain of the polymer. The carbon–hydrogen bond, that such plastics as PPE and PP are composed, is considerably weaker. This class of polymers is known as polyolefins. The carbon–chlorine bond, a key bond of PVC, is weaker yet. The arrangement of elements in the molecule, the symmetry of the structure, and the polymer chains’ degree of branching are as important as the specific elements contained in the molecule. Polymers containing the carbon–hydrogen bonds such as polypropylene and polyethylene, and the carbon–chlorine bonds such as PVC and ethylene chlorotrifluoroethylene are different in the important property of chemical resistance from a fully fluorinated polymer such as polytetrafluoroethylene. The latter has a much wider range of corrosion resistance. The fluoroplastic materials are divided into two groups: fully fluorinated fluorocarbon polymers such as PTFE, FEP, and PPA called perfluoropolymers, and the partially fluorinated polymers such as ETFE, PVDF, and ECTFE that are called fluoropolymers.