Experimental analysis and theoretical modeling of the mechanical behavior of short glass fiber and short carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate hybrid composites

In this research, polycarbonate (PC) composites with short glass fiber (SGF) and short carbon fiber (SCF) hybrid fiber reinforcements were compounded by single screw extruder and specimens were prepared by injection molding machine. This article aims to investigate the mechanical properties of PC hybrid composites, by means of the experimental and the theoretical methods. The composites were subjected to tensile test. Experimental results showed the improvements in tensile strength and modulus by increasing the SCF content of the hybrid composite. The theoretical tensile strength was predicted based on Kelly–Tyson model and rule of hybrid mixture. Kelly–Tyson model showed to be a good approximation to predict the tensile strength of composite. When the SCF was replaced by milled carbon fiber (MCF) to form a PC/SGF/MCF hybrid system, poorer mechanical properties are reported due to the weaker interfacial adhesion between MCF and PC, as proven by the scanning electron microscopy. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:1238–1248, 2016. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Effect of molecular weight and fiber diameter on the interfacial behavior in glass fiber/PP composites

In this study, the effects of fiber diameter, molecular weight of the matrix polymer, and interfiber spacing in glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene composites were investigated on the interfacial microstructure. The influences of the surface state of the fiber and the heat-treatment condition on the interfacial morphology and the spherulitic formation process in the matrix were also investigated. Consequently, it was found that both the fiber diameter and molecular weight of the polymer significantly influence the thickness of the transcrystalline layer. Also, as the interfiber spacing becomes smaller, the spherulites in the matrix polymer are not seen to be formed between the transcrystalline layers developed on the glass-fiber surface. In addition, the radius of the largest spherulites in the matrix polymer was found to be about the same as the thickness of transcrystalline region and to largely depend on the holding time at the crystallization temperature and cooling condition (or rate). © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polm Sci 67:1191–1197, 1998     

Thermoelastic behavior of carbon fiber/polycarbonate model composites

Model composites of polycarbonate (PC) containing single, multiple and chopped carbon fibers (CF) with and without and epoxy sizing were prepared by hot pressing. The thermoelastic behavior of model CF/PC composites was characterized by stretching calorimetry at room temperature. For small strains ? (i.e., ? ≈ 0.01) the specific mechanical work, specific heat effects and specific internal energy changes ΔU were completely reversible in stretching/contraction cycles and quantitatively obeyed the standard relationships for elastic solids. Young's moduli E and ΔU were significantly higher, whereas the linear thermal expansivities α_L were lower for model CF/PC composites compared to those for the neat PC. Smaller values of the above parameters for composites reinforced with sized CF suggested weaker CF/PC interfacial interactions. Current theoretical models of thermoelastic properties of composite materials suggest the existence of unusually stiff, highly oriented PC structures in fairly thick boundary layers around CF. The onset of inelastic deformation, as well as mechanical failure in CF/PC model composites at significantly smaller strains compared to the neat PC were tentatively explained by the yield and subsequent plastic flow of the matrix polymer initiated by heat effects of fiber fragmentation processes, and by higher concentration of microvoids generated in fiber fragmentation/debonding events, respectively.     

Effect of solid lubricants on tribological behavior of glass fiber reinforced polyamide 6

The tribological properties of glass fiber reinforced polyamide 6 (GF/PA6, 15/85 by weight) and its composites filled with solid lubricants were investigated. The main purposes of this article were to study the hybrid effect of solid lubricants with glass fiber as well as the synergism of combined solid lubricants, the wear mechanisms were studied by SEM. The results showed that graphite impaired the tribological properties of GF/PA6, but the tribology behavior of graphite filled GF/PA6 composite could be significantly improved by polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE) or/and ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), and the GF/PA6 composite filled with 5 wt % graphite, 5 wt % PTFE together with 5 wt % UHMWPE exhibited the lowest friction coefficient and wear rate, which was almost a reduction in friction coefficient by 37% and in wear rate by 34% contrast to GF/PA6. The effect of load was also studied, and the results showed that the friction coefficient was virtually not affected by load, while the wear rate all increased with increasing load. POLYM. COMPOS., 34:1783–1793, 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

The effect of specimen thickness and stress ratio on the fatigue behavior of polycarbonate

The cyclic residual stresses ahead of fatigue cracks are known to play an important role in the fatigue fracture response of engineering materials. The size of these residual stresses are directly affected by the stress state of the component. In this paper, we examine the effect of stress state for fully compressive and fully tensile cyclic loading of polycarbonate. The role of stress state is studied using two different specimen thicknesses, one thickness will represent a near-plane stress condition and the other will represent a near-plane strain condition. In cyclic compressive loading, it will be shown that the near-plane stress specimen with its larger zone of residual tension will exhibit enhanced crack saturation lengths. While for cyclic tensile loading, the larger zone of residual compression upon unloading will result in crack retardation for the same unloading stress intensity. A series of systematic experiments on the effects of mean stress on fatigue fracture is reported, and the results of the experiments are rationalized with the aid of scanning electron microscopy of the fracture surfaces. The results of this study have strong implications for both constant amplitude fatigue loading and variable amplitude fatigue loading as well as applicability to other engineering materials.     

Physico-chemical,thermal, and mechanical properties of PLA-nHA nanocomposites: Effect of glass fiber reinforcement

In this study, tri-layered composites were prepared by reinforcing poly-lactic acid (PLA) nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HA) (1 and 5 wt%) and 20 mol% continuous phosphate glass fibers (PGF). Initially, the effect of addition of 1 and 5% n-HA on the structural, thermal, mechanical, and thermo-mechanical properties of 100% PLA was investigated. With 5 wt% n-HA addition the tensile modulus (TM), flexural modulus (FM), tensile strength (TS), and flexural strength (FS) of 100% PLA was improve by 14.9, 47.4, 6, and 32.9%, respectively. Whereas, the un-notched impact strength of the nanocomposites suffer 2% deterioration. However, T _g decreased by 0.3°C and T _c increased by 10°C as 5 wt% n-HA was added to 100% PLA. Afterwards, the 5% n-HA/PLA composite were reinforced with 20 mol% continuous PGF and the TM, FM, TS, and FS of the tri-layered composites were 162.6, 412.5, 28.4, and 157.4% higher as compared to 100%PLA. Furthermore, the storage modulus of the 1% n-HA-filled composites was 500 MPa lower than 100%PLA, while 5 wt% n-HA-filled composites showed similar storage modulus as 100% PLA. 5 wt% n-HA-filled composite showed the highest peak of loss modulus which may be attribute to the chain segment of PLA matrix after the incorporation of HA. Thus, n-HA and PGF reinforcement resulted in improved mechanical properties of the composites and have great potential as biodegradable bone fixation device with enhanced load-bearing ability.     

The tensile behavior of polycarbonate and polycarbonate–glass bead composites

The tensile behavior at 20°C of unfilled polycarbonate and polycarbonate–glass bead composites (90/10 vol %) has been investigated by tensile testing with simultaneous volume change measurements. Both the effect of the bead size and the degree of interfacial adhesion on the tensile behavior of the composites has been studied. A simple model has been applied to obtain quantitative information on the separate contributions of several possible deformation mechanisms to the total deformation. For unfilled polycarbonate and the polycarbonate–glass bead composites with excellent interfacial adhesion, shear deformation is found to be the only significant non-Hookean deformation mechanism. By means of strain recovery experiments it is shown that the shear deformation is highly elastic in character. For the composites with poor interfacial adhesion, besides shear deformation also dewetting cavitation contributes to the non-Hookean deformation. The differences in tensile behavior between the composites with excellent and poor interfacial adhesion are explained by the different mechanisms for shear band formation at excellently and poorly adhering glass beads.     

Study on microfracture mechanism of short glass fiber reinforced polycarbonate by using acoustic emission

The influence of the difference in wettability between glass fiber (GF) and polycarbonate (PC) on the microfractures of GF reinforced PC was investigated by using an acoustic emission (AE) method. In the case of well‐coupled GF‐reinforced PC, it is suggested that in the AE amplitude region higher than about 16 mV, microfracture related to scission of polymer chains occurs at the interfacial layer between GF and PC. On the other hand, in the case of poorly‐coupled GF‐reinforced PC under stress, debonding and interfacial slippage between GF and PC occurred below the yield stress of PC, whereas interfacial fracture and GF breakage occurred above the yield stress. Debonding and interfacial slippage between GF and the PC matrix were closely related to an AE amplitude smaller than about 16 mV. The relationship between stress and AE events is expressed in this case by the Eyring model. The activation energy of interfacial slippage between GF and PC was about 74 kJ/mol, which corresponds to the energy of chain‐backbone motion of PC in the glassy state. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 45664.     

The detachment behavior of polycarbonate on thin films above the glass transition temperature

When producing mono‐axially stretched films made of amorphous polycarbonate, a self‐reinforcement is generated due to the stretching process. This leads to an increase of the strength and stiffness. The mono‐axial stretching process is conducted at temperatures above the glass transition temperature, whereas better mechanical properties are obtained at higher stretching temperatures. However, the film tends to adhere to the rolls, especially at temperatures from 10°C above the glass transition temperature. The rolls of the mono‐axial stretching unit are made of an induction hardened and polished quenched and tempered steel 1.7225 – 42CrMo4. This work reports on the investigation of the detachment behavior of polycarbonate on different coatings as a function of the temperature and contact time. The main intention is to find a suitable coating on which the polycarbonate film adheres only slightly at temperatures clearly exceeding the glass transition temperature. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 56:786–797, 2016. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Effect of gas diffusion on creep behavior of polycarbonate

Biaxial tension-tension creep experiments were performed to study the effect of gas diffusion on creep behavior of polycarbonate. Experiments were conducted on a thin-walled tubular specimen by applying both gas pressure and axial tension at room temperature, and measuring axial strain and gas absorption. Experiments were performed with helium, nitrogen, air, carbon dioxide and Freon-22

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. It was found that the creep deformation was highly affected by the solubility controlled gases, carbon dioxide and Freon. The absorption measurements showed that the gas absorption behavior was clearly affected by the creep deformation of the material. Also an anomalous diffusion-type behavior appeared even in permanent gas-polymer systems under creep conditions. The modified superposition principle satisfactorily predicted the recovery following creep. The axial creep for the biaxial tension-tension experiments was also computed from data previously reported for creep under combined tension and torsion of a different sample of polycarbonate.     

温度对玻璃纤维增强聚合物筋与混凝土黏结性能影响试验研究

为研究不同温度及不同升温（单调升温和循环升温）、降温方式（单调升温⁃自然冷却和单调升温⁃快速冷却）对玻璃纤维增强聚合物（GFRP）筋与混凝土之间黏结性能的影响,选取2种黏结长度共90个GFRP筋⁃混凝土立方体试件在温度为20~220 ℃范围进行拉拔试验,并在同样温度条件下对54个混凝土立方体试件（单调升温、单调升温⁃自然冷却）进行抗压、抗拉强度测试。结果表明,2种升温方式下,GFRP筋与混凝土随温度升高黏结性能退化严重,温度低于120 ℃时,单调升温对黏结强度退化影响超过循环升温;温度超过120 ℃时,升温方式对黏结性能衰减程度影响减小;2种降温方式下,单调升温⁃快速冷却随温度升高黏结性能退化明显,单调升温⁃自然冷却影响轻微。     

Influence of molecular structure and reinforcement on fatigue behavior of tough polypropylene materials

Molecular structure and reinforcement heavily influence the crack growth resistance of polypropylene materials. Aim of this study is to investigate the fatigue behavior of different unreinforced and reinforced tough polypropylene materials used for piping applications. Due to high resistance against crack growth, these materials cannot be tested in the application relevant quasi‐brittle failure mode within feasible amounts of time. In this work, the new cyclic cracked round bar test, developed for tough polyethylene materials, has been examined as a possible method to characterize this important type of failure mode in homo‐, random‐, and reinforced polypropylene. Even though molecular mass distribution, which is often used to explain differences in crack growth resistance of polymers, was similar for unreinforced materials, fatigue lifetimes differed greatly. The mismatch of molecular mass and fatigue lifetime was mainly attributed to the different buildup and morphology of the base polymer. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43948.     

The fatigue behavior of graphite fiber reinforced nylon

The fatigue lives of graphite fiber reinforced nylon composites were related uniquely to the tensile strengths of the materials. The distributions of tensile strength and fatigue life were measured and correlated with either two- or three-parameter Weibull functions. For a specific population, there existed a unique relationship between the two cumulative distributions. Thus, if the effect of an environmental variable on the distribution of strength is measured, the effect on the fatigue life can be estimated. It was also found that the mechanism of fatigue failure was influenced by the technique of fabrication. Compression molded materials failed through an isothermal, brittle mode of fracture, while injection molded materials failed in a ductile, thermal mode.     

Cold-drawing (necking) behavior of polycarbonate as a double glass transition

The thermomechanical behavior of poly(bisphenol A carbonate) (PC) undergoing cold-drawing (necking) over a large range of temperature and strain rate has been studied. The cold-drawing of PC has been described from a material particle perspective in terms of true stress and strain relationships. The isothermal draw stress is shown to be a material parameter, and the true stress-strain behavior of necked material above the true drawing stress follows conventional treatment by rubber elasticity. Cold-drawing is described as a double glass transition: first, a transition from an isotropic glass to an isotropic rubber at the yield point, then, on unloading after stretching of a rubbery mesophase, a transition from an oriented rubber to an oriented glass.     

Fatigue behavior of continuous glass fiber composites: Effect of the matrix nature

The effect of the matrix morphology on the fatigue behavior of a continuous glass fiber/polypropylene (GF/PP) composite system was studied by means of stress‐life and mode II cyclic delamination tests. The stress‐life behavior of a GF composite is considerably affected by the nature of the matrix. A two‐stage fatigue damage curve was observed in the composite made with a PP matrix, whereas a three‐stage curve was observed in the composite made with a thermoset polyester matrix. For a fatigue stress higher than 50% of the yield stress, the PP matrix composite showed a considerably longer fatigue life than the thermoset polyester matrix composite. Mode II cyclic delamination tests showed that the morphology itself of the PP matrix also played an important role. Higher fatigue delamination growth rates, at given strain energy release rates, and lower strain energy release rates at failure were obtained for a composite showing a coarse spherulitic morphology and well‐marked interspherulitic regions than for a composite showing a finer spherulitic morphology and less‐marked interspherulitic regions. While the fatigue mode of the composite with a coarse spherulitic morphology was interspherulitic, that of the composite with a finer spherulitic morphology was transpherulitic.     

Mechanisms of fatigue in short glass fiber reinforced polyamide 6

An adaptation to existing failure models for fatigue fracture of short fiber reinforced thermoplastics is presented, based on results using some new experimental methods. These results lead to the following conclusion: Cracks in polyamide remain bridged (by plastically drawn matrix material and/or fibers) until just before final fracture. Important is the conditioning of the polyamide: conditioned to equilibrium water content, this mechanism occurs, but not when it is dry as molded. Fatigue damage measurements were done on thin foils cut from the fatigued specimen. When tensile tested, these foils show a change in both strength and fracture strain after fatigue. Further observations during the experiments and SEM fractography strengthen the conviction that fatigue damage initiates and grows in the form of bridged cracks. A correlation between tensile strength and fatigue strength was found; the degree of fiber alignment has a similar effect on both tensile and fatigue properties.     

Fracture behavior of glass fiber reinforced polymer composite

Chopped strand glass fiber reinforced particle-filled polymer composite beams with varying notch-to-depth ratios and different volume fractions of glass fibers were investigated in Mode I fracture using three-point bending tests. Effects of polyester resin content and glass fiber content on fracture behavior was also studied. Polyester resin contents were used 13.00%%, 14.75%, 16.50%, 18.00% and 19.50%, and glass fiber contents were 1% and 1.5% of the total weight of the polymer composite system. Flexural strength of the polymer composite increases with increase in polyester and fiber content. The critical stress intensity factor was determined by using several methods such as initial notch depth method, compliance method and J-integral method. The values of K_IC obtained from these methods were compared.     

Effect of moulded and machined notches upon the fatigue strength of an acetal copolymer

Uniaxial and rotating bending fatigue tests have been carried out on acetal copolymer specimens containing moulded-in notches and holes. The effects of these stress concentrations were compared with earlier work in which the same stress concentrations were machined into the specimens. It was found that in all cases the moulded stress raisers exhibited longer endurances than those which were machined although the effects in each case could not be predicted from a knowledge of elastic stress concentration factors.     

Effect of fiber reinforcement on deformability properties of cemented sand

In this study, a series of unconfined compression tests have been performed to determine the effect of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber inclusion on deformation characteristics of cemented sand. The cement contents were 2, 4, and 6% by weight of the dry sand and samples were cured for 7 days. PVA fibers with a length of 12 mm and a diameter of 0.1 mm were added to sand-cement mixtures at a weight ratio of 0.0%, 0.3%, 0.6% and 1% (dry wt.). The compression stress-axial strain, secant modulus of elasticity (E₅₀), tangent modulus of elasticity (E_tan), failure mode, energy absorption capacity (EA), energy base index, strain base index, deformability index and axial strain at peak strength of the samples were described. Tests results show that addition of cement to sand increased stiffness and unconfined compression strength (UCS), and leading to a brittle behavior. Moreover, addition of PVA fibers to cemented sand increased the UCS and axial strain at peak strength and increased softening stress after the maximum strength. In addition, the fiber inclusion increases the energy absorption capacity and decreases the secant modulus of elasticity.     

Extrudate swell behavior of glass fiber filled polyamide 6

This paper discusses the extrudate swell behavior of glass-filled polyamide 6. The key features of the experiments were the facility to extrude directly into a density matched oil kept at extrusion temperature and thus, the ability to measure the diameter of the extrudate of the glass-filled polyamide immediately upon exit from the die, without the extrudate contacting air and as a function of time in a chamber under isothermal and neutrally-buoyant conditions. The concentration and orientation of the fibers of the extrudates were also studied using X-ray radiography in a post-mortem fashion. A skin/core morphology, where uniaxially aligned fibers constitute the skin zone and the core contains a reduced concentration of fibers, was observed.