Influence of filler/reinforcing agent and post-curing on the flexural properties of woven and unidirectional glass fiber-reinforced composites

The aim of this study is to investigate the reinforcing effect of woven and unidirectional glass fibers and the effect of post-curing on the flexural strength and flexural modulus of glass fiber-reinforced composites. A series of composites containing 2,2-bis[4-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloyloxypropoxy)-phenyl]propane and triethyleneglycol dimethacrylate matrices and different reinforcements of unidirectional or woven glass fibers were prepared. The samples, 25 × 2 × 2 mm, were cured with a halogen curing lamp, followed by additional curing by thermal treatment at 135 ± 5 °C temperature and 60 psi pressure. Samples were tested before and after post-curing in order to determine the flexural strength and flexural modulus. The degree of reinforcement with glass fibers was varied between 14 and 57 wt% or 7.64 and 38.44 vol% by changing the number of unidirectional bundles or woven glass fiber bands in the composites, respectively. The obtained flexural strength values were in the range of 95.20–552.31 Mpa; the flexural modulus ranged between 2.17 and 14.7 GPa. The highest flexural strength and flexural modulus values were recorded for samples with unidirectional glass fibers. The mechanical qualities of the glass fibers-reinforced composites increased after post-curing treatment. Increasing of the glass fiber amount in the experimental composites improves both flexural strength and modulus. SEM micrographs of fractured composites indicate a strong interfacial interaction between the glass fibers and the polymer matrix.     

Mechanical Properties of Thermoplastic and Thermoset Composites Reinforced with 3D Biaxial Warp-knitted Fabrics

In this study, two types of thermoplastic matrices (low melting point polyethylene terephthalate (LPET) fiber and polypropylene (PP) fiber) and glass fiber/epoxy resin/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used to fabricate the thermoplastic and thermoset composite materials with 3D biaxial warp-knitted fabrics. Thermoplastic and thermoset composites were fabricated using hot-press and resin transfer molding (RTM) methods. The fabricated samples were tested with tensile and three-point flexural tests. In thermoplastic composites, samples in the 90° direction and LPET matrix showed the best tensile and flexural properties with an improvement of 39 and 21% tensile modulus and strength, 16 and 8% flexural modulus and strength compared to the PP samples in the same direction. In thermoset composites, samples in the 90° direction and MWCNTs showed the best improvement of the flexural modulus and strength with 97 and 58% compared to the samples without MWCNTs. This improvement can most likely be attributed to an increase in interfacial adhesion due to the presence of the carbon nanotubes.     

Effect of fiber loading on mechanical and morphological properties of cocoa pod husk fibers reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane composites

In this study, cocoa (Theobroma cacao) pod husk (CPH) fiber reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) was prepared by melt compounding method using Haake Polydrive R600 internal mixer. The composites were prepared with different fiber loading: 20%, 30% and 40% (by weight), with the optimum processing parameters: 190 °C, 11 min, and 40 rpm for temperature, time and speed, respectively. Five samples were cut from the composite sheet. Mean value was taken for each composite according to ASTM standards. Effect of fiber loading on mechanical (i.e. tensile, flexural properties and impact strength) and morphological properties was studied. TPU/CPH composites showed increase in tensile strength and modulus with increase in fiber loading, while tensile strain was decreasing with increase in fiber loading. The composite also showed increase in flexural strength and modulus with increase in fiber content. Impact strength was deteriorated with increase in fiber loading. Morphology observations using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) showed fiber/matrix good adhesion.     

Continuous fibre composites with a nanocomposite matrix: Improvement of flexural and compressive strength at elevated temperatures

Polymer layered silicate nanocomposites can improve the flexural and compressive strength of continuous fibre reinforced composites by means of increasing the matrix modulus. A three-phase thermoplastic composite consisting of a main reinforcing phase of woven glass fibres and a polyamide 6 (PA6) nanocomposite matrix was fabricated. Flexural testing of a conventional PA6 fibre composite has shown a decrease of the flexural strength upon increasing temperature. This behaviour is associated with the decrease of the matrix modulus, especially above T_g. The nanocomposite used in this study has a modulus that is much higher than unfilled PA6, even above T_g and after moisture conditioning. The results showed that the fibre composites with a nanocomposite matrix have a more than 40% increased flexural and compressive strength at elevated temperatures. This also means that the temperature at which the materials can be used is increased by 40–50 °C. Therefore, by using a nanocomposite matrix the high temperature performance of fibre composites can be improved without any change in processing conditions. The combination with other advantages of nanocomposites in areas such as barrier properties, flammability and creep makes this a very attractive approach.     

Mechanical performance optimization through interface strength gradation in PP/glass fibre reinforced composites

A new design for thermoplastic composites based on the gradation of the interlaminar interface strength (IGIS) has been developed with the aim of coupling high impact resistance with high static properties. IGIS laminates have been prepared by properly alternating layers of woven fabric with layers of compatibilized or not compatibilized polymeric films. To prove the new concept, polypropylene (PP) and glass fibres woven fabrics have been used to prepare composites by using the film stacking technique. Maleated PP, able to compatibilize polypropylene with glass fibres, has been used to manage the interface strength layer by layer.The flexural and low-velocity impact characterizations have shown that the presence of the coupling agent in conventional composite structures (prepared with fully compatibilized polymeric layers) improves the static flexural properties through the strengthening of the matrix/fibre interface but considerably lowers the low velocity impact resistance of the composite, in terms of maximum load before fibre breakage and recovered energy after impact. The use of the IGIS design, that grade the interface strength through the laminate thickness, allows to prepare composites with both high flexural properties and high impact resistance, without affecting the balance and type of the reinforcement configuration.     

A Study on flexural properties of wildcane grass fiber-reinforced polyester composites

The main objective of this study is to introduce a new natural fiber as reinforcement in polymers for making composites. Wildcane grass stalk fibers were extracted from its stem using retting and chemical (NaOH) extraction processes. These fibers were treated with KMnO₄ solution to improve adhesion with matrix. The resulting fibers were intentionally reinforced in a polyester matrix unidirectionally, and the flexural properties of the composite were determined. The fibers extracted by retting process have a tensile strength of 159 MPa, modulus of 11.84 GPa, and an effective density of 0.844 g/cm³. The composites were formulated up to a maximum fiber volume fraction of 0.39, resulting in a flexural strength of 99.17 MPa and flexural modulus of 3.96 GPa for wildcane grass fibers extracted by retting. The flexural strength and the modulus of chemically extracted wildcane grass fiber composites have increased by approximately, 7 and 17%, respectively compared to those of composites made from fibers extracted by retting process. The flexural strength and the modulus of KMnO₄-treated fiber composites have increased by 12 and 76% over those of composites made from fibers extracted by retting process and decreased by 3 and 48% over those of composites made from fibers extracted by chemical process, respectively. The results of this study indicate that wildcane grass fibers have potential as reinforcing fillers in plastics in order to produce inexpensive materials with high toughness.     

The compression-after-impact strength of woven and non-crimp fabric reinforced composites subjected to long-term water immersion ageing

The current work examines the durability of composites reinforced with glass fibre woven fabric as well as non-crimp fabrics (NCF) immersed in water at 43, 65 and 93 °C for up to 2.5 years. Low velocity normal impact has been induced at various time intervals before and after water immersion at energy levels of 2.5, 5 and 10 J. Following impact the plates were tested statically in compression to determine the residual strength for assessment of damage tolerance. The compression strength suffered significant reductions from the water absorption and the low velocity impact with values being dependent to the time of immersion and the water temperature. A parallel behaviour was monitored, in terms of strength reduction over time, of plates impacted prior to water immersion with the plates that contain no damage. For specimens where impact damage introduced after water immersion lower compression-after-impact (CAI) strength was observed at the same energy levels. An increase in damage diameter was evident, regardless the reinforcement type, though the gradually produced greater density of through thickness damage was responsible for the significant lower compression strength values. The presence of 0° fibres for the NCF composites as the main load bearing element dictated the sensitivity to impact as well as the corresponding residual strength. For composites with woven reinforcement, damage was contained and localized by the fabric weave and effective stress redistribution seemed to be the mechanism for the relatively higher residual strengths obtained. A semi-empirical model has been used with high accuracy in fitting the given experimental data and draw conclusions from the comparisons.     

Influence of fiber content on the mechanical and thermal properties of Kenaf fiber reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane composites

The aim of this paper is to study the influence of fiber content on mechanical (i.e. tensile, flexural, impact, hardness and abrasion resistance) and thermal (i.e. TGA) properties of Kenaf bast fiber reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composites. The composite was prepared by melt-mixing method, followed by compression molding process. Different fiber loadings were prepared; namely, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% weight percent. A 30% fiber loading exhibited the best tensile strength, while modulus increased with increase of fiber content, and strain deteriorated with increase of fiber content. Flexural strength and modulus increased with increase of fiber loading. Increase of fiber loading resulted in decline in impact strength. Hardness increased by addition of 30% fiber content. Abrasion resistant decreased with increase of fiber loading. Fiber loading decreased thermal stability of the composite.     

Low velocity impact properties of intra-ply hybrid composites based on basalt and nylon woven fabrics

In this paper, the low velocity impact behavior of homogenous and hybrid composite laminates reinforced by basalt–nylon intra-ply fabrics was experimentally investigated. Epoxy resin was used as matrix material. The purpose of using this hybrid composite is to combine the good mechanical properties of basalt fiber with the excellent impact resistant of nylon fiber. Five different types of woven fabrics were used as reinforcement with different volume percentages of nylon (0%, 25%, 33.3%, 50% and 100%). The effect of nylon/basalt fiber content on maximum force, maximum deflection, residual deflection, total absorbed energy, elastic energy, size and type of damage were studied at several low velocity impact nominal energy levels (16, 30 and 40 J). The results indicate that impact performance of these composites is significantly affected by the nylon/basalt fiber content. The visual inspection and ultrasonic C-scan of the impact damaged specimens reveals that content of nylon/basalt fiber controls the type and size of damage.     

Flexural and impact response of woven glass fiber fabric/polypropylene composites

Impact tests with a falling dart and flexural measurements were carried out on polypropylene based laminates reinforced with glass fibers fabrics. Research has shown that the strong fiber/matrix interface obtained through the use of a compatibilizer increased the mechanical performance of such composite systems. The improved adhesion between fibers and matrix weakly affects the flexural modulus but strongly influences the ultimate properties of the investigated woven fabric composites. In fact, bending tests have shown a clear improvement in the flexural strength for the compatibilized systems, in particular when a high viscosity/high crystallinity polypropylene was used. On the contrary, the low velocity impact tests indicated an opposite dependence on the interface strength, and higher energy absorption in not compatibilized composites was detected. This result has been explained in terms of failure mechanisms at the fiber/matrix interface, which are able to dissipate large amounts of energy through friction phenomena. Pull-out of fibers from the polypropylene matrices have been evidenced by the morphological analysis of fracture surfaces after failure and takes place before the fibers breakage, as confirmed by the evaluation of the ductility index.     

Mechanical properties of glass-fibre mat/PMMA functionally gradient composite

Glass-fibre mat (GFM) reinforced poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA) composites with different fibre content and four kinds of functionally gradient material (FGM) composites were fabricated. To investigate the effects of glass-fibre content and spatial gradient, flexural test and instrumented impact test were conducted. Flexural modulus increased with the increment of fibre content. However, the flexural strength and the impact absorption energy of the composite exhibited maximum values at 30 vol.%. FGM composite with GF-rich side at both outer layers showed the highest flexural strength. Compared with isotropic composite, higher flexural modulus were obtained from the FGM composites. Impact absorption energies of four FGM composites were similar but their ductility indices (DI) were quite different. FGM composites with proper spatial gradient could have improved mechanical properties compared with conventional isotropic composites.     

The designable elastic modulus of 3-D fabric reinforced biocomposites

The three-dimensional (3-D) carbon fiber fabric is used to reinforce a hydroxyapatite (HA)/epoxy biocomposite. The elastic modulus calculation of the 3-D fabric reinforced composite by the stiffness average method and the finite element method shows that the elastic modulus of the composite is designable, and can be adjusted to the range of a human cortical bone (7-30 GPa) by varying the micro-structural parameters of the woven fabric to fulfill the nonisotropic requirement of the composite implants. The calculated elastic modulus is comparable with the flexural modulus of the 3-D fabric reinforced composites prepared by resin transfer molding. The incorporation of HA has decreased the flexural modulus of the composites for the weakened fiber-matrix interface, but the flexural modulus (22-36 GPa) is still close to that of the human cortical bone, which favors the avoidance of ‘stress shielding’ and the sequent bone absorption caused by implant materials with a high elastic modulus.     

不同纤维织物/乙烯基酯复合材料的湿热老化

本文将不同纤维织物与750HOI环氧乙烯基酯树脂复合成三种层合结构的复合材料,对比研究了树脂浇铸体及复合材料在60℃与90℃去离子水中的湿热性能。通过材料的吸湿特性、弯曲性能、微观结构以及动态热机械性能的变化,分析了材料的湿热老化机理。研究表明:不同纤维织物增强的复合材料吸湿行为具有较大差异;90℃浸泡2160h后,添加碳纤维表面毡的复合材料F2弯曲强度保留率为70.42%,而表面层为方格布的复合材料J的保留率为51.88%;红外光谱(FTIR)研究表明:90℃湿热老化后复合材料基体树脂发生了水解断裂;扫描电镜(SEM)和动态热机械分析(DMA)研究发现:老化后复合材料中纤维/基体界面发生脱粘破坏,界面结合强度降低,试样的Tg和储能模量减小。     

Introducing cellulose nanocrystals in sheet molding compounds (SMC)

The mechanical properties of short glass fiber/epoxy composites containing cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) made using sheet molding compound (SMC) manufacturing method as well as the rheological and thermomechanical properties of the CNC-epoxy composites were investigated as a function of the CNC content. CNC up to 1.4 wt% were dispersed in the epoxy to produce the resin for SMC production. The addition of CNC in the resin increased its viscosity and slightly reduced the heat of reaction during the polymerization without altering the curing time and temperature and the effective pot life of the resin. The incorporation of 0.9 wt% CNC in the SMC composite resulted in increases in elastic modulus and tensile strength by ∼25% and ∼30% and in flexural modulus and strength by ∼44% and ∼33% respectively. Concentrations of CNC up to 0.9 wt% in the SMC composite did not alter the impact energy.     

Additive manufacturing of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites using fused deposition modeling

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies have been successfully applied in various applications. Fused deposition modeling (FDM), one of the most popular AM techniques, is the most widely used method for fabricating thermoplastic parts those are mainly used as rapid prototypes for functional testing with advantages of low cost, minimal wastage, and ease of material change. Due to the intrinsically limited mechanical properties of pure thermoplastic materials, there is a critical need to improve mechanical properties for FDM-fabricated pure thermoplastic parts. One of the possible methods is adding reinforced materials (such as carbon fibers) into plastic materials to form thermoplastic matrix carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites those could be directly used in the actual application areas, such as aerospace, automotive, and wind energy. This paper is going to present FDM of thermoplastic matrix CFRP composites and test if adding carbon fiber (different content and length) can improve the mechanical properties of FDM-fabricated parts. The CFRP feedstock filaments were fabricated from plastic pellets and carbon fiber powders for FDM process. After FDM fabrication, effects on the tensile properties (including tensile strength, Young's modulus, toughness, yield strength, and ductility) and flexural properties (including flexural stress, flexural modulus, flexural toughness, and flexural yield strength) of specimens were experimentally investigated. In order to explore the parts fracture reasons during tensile and flexural tests, fracture interface of CFRP composite specimens after tensile testing and flexural testing was observed and analyzed using SEM micrograph.     

Characterization of long fiber thermoplastic/metal laminates

Long fiber thermoplastic (LFT) composite/metal laminate (LML) is a hybrid composite consisting of alternate layers of metals such as aluminum and an LFT composite, which combines advantages from both the constituents. The LFT/Al laminates (LMLs) were processed by compression molding and were characterized for their Young’s modulus, mechanical strength, and low-velocity impact (LVI) properties. The average values of specific elastic modulus and specific tensile strength were approximately 20 GPa/(gcm⁻³) and 108.5 MPa/(gcm⁻³), respectively. Failure mechanisms included delamination between LFT composite and Al, fiber fracture and pullout in LFT composite, and shear fracture of aluminum and LFT composite layers. Rule-of-mixtures (ROM) predictions of laminate properties in tension compared well with the experimental values. Specific perforation energy of the laminates determined by LVI tests was 7.58 J/(kgm⁻²), which is significantly greater than that of the LFT composite alone, 1.72 J/(kgm⁻²). Overall, the LML showed significant improvement in the properties as compared to the LFT composite.     

Reinforcing hydroxyapatite/thermosetting epoxy composite with 3-D carbon fiber fabric through RTM processing

Bioactive ceramic/polymer composites have been developed in the orthopaedic field in recent years. In this work, three-dimensional (3-D) carbon fiber fabric is used to reinforce hydroxyapatite (HA)/thermosetting epoxy composite and epoxy resin through resin transfer molding (RTM) processing. It is found that the 3-D carbon fiber fabric can be impregnated with epoxy and HA-containing epoxy resin, and HA is distributed gradually along the depth direction in fiber-reinforced HA/epoxy composite, although HA is dispersed evenly in epoxy resin by surface modification of silane coupling agent. The impact toughness and flexural strength of fiber-reinforced epoxy and fiber-reinforced HA/epoxy composites are much higher than those of epoxy and HA/epoxy composite. The impact toughness of both fiber-reinforced composites decreases while the flexural strength and the flexural modulus increase with fiber volume ratio. The impact toughness of the fiber-reinforced HA/epoxy composite is higher, while the flexural strength and modulus are lower than those of the fiber-reinforced epoxy composite at the same fiber volume ratio. The flexural strength of the both composites is higher than, and their flexural modulus is close to, those of the human cortical bone. The in vitro cytotoxicity test with L929 fibroblasts shows that the addition of HA diminished the toxicity of epoxy resin.     

Influence of fiber content on mechanical,morphological and thermal properties of kenaf fibers reinforced poly(vinyl chloride)/thermoplastic polyurethane poly-blend composites

Kenaf (Hibiscus Cannabinus) bast fiber reinforced poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)/thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) poly-blend was prepared by melt mixing method using Haake Polydrive R600 internal mixer. The composites were prepared with different fiber content: 20%, 30% and 40% (by weight), with the processing parameters: 140 °C, 11 min, and 40 rpm for temperature, time and speed, respectively. After mixing, the composite was compressed using compressing molding machine. Mechanical properties (i.e. tensile properties, flexural properties, impact strength) were studied. Morphological properties of tensile fracture surface were studied using Scanning electron microscope (SEM). Thermal properties of the composites were studied using Thermogravimetric Analyses (TGA). PVC/TPU/KF composites have shown lower tensile strength and strain with increase in fiber content. Tensile modulus showed an increasing trend with increase in fiber content. Impact strength decreased with increase in fiber content; however, high impact strength was observed even with 40% fiber content (20.2 kJ/m²). Mean while; the 20% and 30% fiber contents showed higher impact strength of 34.9, 27.9 kJ/m²; respectively. SEM showed that there is poor fiber/matrix adhesion. Thermal degradation took place in three steps. In the first step, composites as well as the matrix had a similar stability. At the second step, matrix showed a slightly better stability than the composites. At the last step, composites showed a better stability than the matrix.     

The effect of polybutadiene interlayer on interfacial adhesion and impact properties in oxygen-plasma-treated UHMPE fiber/epoxy composites

In order to improve the interfacial adhesion and impact properties of ultra-high modulus polyethylene (UHMPE) fiber/epoxy composites at the same time, the fiber coating technique was combined with the oxygen plasma treatment. The UHMPE fiber was treated with oxygen plasma and thin polybutadiene (PB) coating was introduced. PB coating decreased the interfacial adhesion and increased the impact property of the oxygen-plasma-treated UHMPE fiber/epoxy composites. However, oxygen-plasma-treated and PB-coated UHMPE fiber/epoxy composites show improved interfacial adhesion, flexural properties and impact property in comparison with the untreated control UHMPE fiber/epoxy composites. Oxygen plasma treatment introduces micro-pittings on the UHMPE fiber surface. These micro-pittings improved interfacial adhesion and flexural properties and decreased impact properties through mechanical interlocking. Thin PB coating cannot exclude this mechanical interlocking effect completely and there are imperfect wetted UHMPE fiber surface regions in which effect mechanical interlocking can occur. Stress transfer through the viscous PB interlayer also contributes to the interfacial adhesion and flexural properties of PB-coated UHMPE fiber/epoxy composites. The impact property of PB-coated UHMPE fiber/epoxy composites is due to low modulus PB interlayer.     

Development and Characterization of the Midrib of Coconut Palm Leaf Reinforced Polyester Composite

In this paper, midrib of coconut palm leaves (MCL) was investigated for the purpose of development of natural fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites. A new natural fiber composite as MCL/polyester is developed by the hand lay-up method, and the material and mechanical properties of the fiber, matrix and composite materials were evaluated. The effect of fiber content on the tensile, flexural, impact, compressive strength and heat distortion temperature (HDT) was investigated. It was found that the MCL fiber had the maximum tensile strength, tensile modulus flexural strength, flexural modulus and Izod impact strength of 177.5MPa, 14.85GPa, 316.04MPa and 23.54GPa, 8.23KJ/m² respectively. Reinforcement of MCL enhanced the mechanical properties of pure polyester, including that of tensile strength (by 26%), tensile modulus (by 356%), flexural strength (by 41.81%), flexural modulus (by 169%) and Izod impact strength (by 23 times), but the compressive strength was adversely affected. HDT decreased due to fiber loading, but increased with weight fraction of fiber content. Moreover, the experimental results were compared with theoretical model (Rule of mixture) and other natural fiber /polyester composites.