Feasibility of the Use of FRP for Industrial Environments in Relation to Steel Willy Ank de Morais, Bruno Pascotto Russo, Marcelo Tavares Saitta, Ranieri Pereira Rodrigues, Reinaldo Garcia Filho, Weslley da Silva Cavalcante Frota

Abstract

The development of new materials allowed the emergence of new solutions to minimize maintenance costs and extend the useful life of industrial structures. It is in this context that the glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) is present, which mechanical characteristics like structural steels, but that can have a longer and more predictable service life in industrial environments that are typically aggressive to steel. Tensile, Charpy impact notch toughness and corrosion tests were carried out to quantify differences in performance in use between GFRP and a medium-strength structural steel. The results of these tests, as shown in this work, indicated a good reliability of GFRP and its viability in replacing steel on industrial applications.