I work for a high end mountain bike manufacturer in the U.S. We currently manufacture our composite parts in Asia. A few weeks ago, a large shipment of our composite bike frames were in port in Japan to be shipped to us when they were hit by a large typhoon. Many of our frames were submerged in sea water for over a week.
By the time we received the shipment, most of our frames had been destroyed due to the aluminum and steel inserts in the frames being corroded beyond repair. However, after some cleaning, some of the parts appear to be usable.
We began assembling some of the salvageable frames, but noticed upon assembly that a lot of them are dimensionally out of tolerance. Could the prolonged exposure to salt water have deteriorated and warped the epoxy in the composite parts? We're trying to figure out if this is an issue we need to address with our manufacturer due to parts not being made to spec or with our insurance due to the typhoon.
Any data on the effects of salt water on epoxy would be greatly appreciated, as it would help us back our claim of the cause of this issue.
Thanks in advance!