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<div>In this study, the comparative experimental research was performed to quantify the effect of distilled water absorption on the mechanical characteristics of composite samples. The composite samples were reinforced with paraaramid fabric Twaron CT 747. The experimental part involved the fabrication of composites using three different methods: vacuumassisted resin transfer method (VARTM), autoclave technology and hotpressing technology. The fabricated samples were immersed in distilled water according to EN ISO 62. The highest water absorption was obtained for the samples produced by the hotpressing method and this value was 12.1%. Subsequently, mechanical tests were performed, specifically the tensile test according to EN ISO 527-1 and the three-point bending test according to EN ISO 178. The main objective was to compare the tensile and flexural properties of the unexposed and exposed samples. The highest tensile and flexural strengths were obtained for the samples produced by the VARTM method. For these samples, the decrease in tensile strength after immersion was 8.3%. The flexural strength of these samples decreased by 11.4% compared to the unexposed samples. The experimental results showed degradation in the mechanical properties of the samples that were immersed in distilled water. The extent of this degradation depended on the applied manufacturing technology.</div>
Keywords: Tensile properties, flexural properties, composite materials, strength, degradation© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.