What is Osmosis?
Osmosis quite simply is the physical process by which a liquid from a weaker medium is drawn through a semi-permeable membrane into a stronger liquid medium. So what does this mean and how does this relate to boat hull damage?
The simple answer is probably not a lot! Contradicting earlier theories, the damage from “osmosis” is not caused by excessive water permeation. There are absolutely no osmotic forces involved as the gelcoat is an absorbing material which can never act as an osmotic membrane! Instead it is the process of hydrolysis, which creates the water soluble corrosive products which in turn create the familiar cavities. (Hydrolysis is the general term given to the reaction of any material with water, for example organic compounds like polyester resin, itself the main constituent of GRP laminates.)
Once the cavities have formed, then excess water will enter giving rise to high moisture readings. This process may normally be slow, but the presence of free acids or alkalis will greatly accelerate it.
The first point to note is that it is the phthallic acid, formed in the process of hydrolysis of polyester resin, which causes the chain reaction and subsequent laminate damage, not the water! The acid forms as water insoluble crystals and cannot be washed out of the laminate as claimed by some. Even after years of hard-standing and weekly washes, the acid will remain in the capillaries and cavities, fixed in styrene and glycol. However, water will react with PVA binders in the laminate, reducing them to acetic acid. It is this that gives the strong smell of vinegar when blisters are burst. Even so, it must be noted that the laminate can become severely damaged before any warning blisters appear.
Osmosis blisters are not only a cosmetic problem. They are the visible sign that the hydrolysis of the polyester has affected at least one laminate layer.By the time the first blister shows, hydrolysed alkali products will have reduced the bond between fibre-glass and polyester deep in the laminate below the water line! This in turn, will have caused a 20-30% loss of structural strength which no “dry and shield” treatment can restore. Without a proper treatment large parts of the laminate layers will sooner or later have larger areas of polyester hydrolysed with only soft wet fibreglass left.
Studies of hundreds of larger hulls with heavy woven roving mats in the laminate have been undertaken. All were found to have numerous sites inside each roving layer and direct evidence of de-laminations deep in the bulk caused by degrees of severe hydrolysis. Significantly most hulls showed no telltale blisters at all!
For further information on “Osmosis” and its chemistry, we do recommend you visit www.osmosisinfo.com and read what Bengt Blomberg has to say. You will be able to buy a copy of his book from that site, which is one of the most comprehensive (and controversial!) on the subject. The comments above are drawn from his text.
