The primary economic barrier preventing the use of fibre and particles reinforced plastic materials is often their high initial cost, whereas the primary technical hurdle remains the relative uncertainty about the long-term performance of composite structures in their service environment. This is a pity, while polymer based composite materials are often attractive materials from the viewpoint of weight, mechanical strength and maintenance costs.

The uncertainty with regard to service life predictions is often caused by lack of an integrated engineering approach. This approach is of major importance since composite material characteristics are rather complex when compared to other, for example cast metal materials. An integrated assessment of the material takes the development of mechanical, corrosion and permeation properties into account, simultaneously. Modern computer simulations based on mathematical methods, like the infinite difference method, and key figures based on laboratory experiments on polymer and composite samples, enable us to carry out these integral assessments.

Below you will find two real life based case studies that give an impression of our integrated approach. In case study II, the diffusion of water is connected with an internal corrosion mechanism, which subsequently influences the mechanical properties of the polymer composite material. In case study I, blister and bulge formation on composite materials is described. Blister formation on gelcoats, field joints, aluminium coatings, and so on, can be described in a similar manner.