04-08: Update on the Impact of Water Immersion for Pultruded FRP

The development of CTI Standard 137 generated some questions regarding the performance of pultruded structural shapes in a water immersion environment. No data existed for pultruded Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP), but there was some concern regarding a reduction of properties. Three pultruders who supply the Cooling Tower Industry with structural shapes submitted samples for a water immersion analysis that has been underway with periodic testing for over one year. This paper gives an update of that study which is scheduled to last two years in addition to other water exposure data on pultruded FRP. This information will be useful for individuals designing cooling towers.