Water absorption behavior,mechanical and thermal properties of nano TiO2 enhanced glass fiber reinforced polymer composites

Nano TiO₂ particle is one of the promising inorganic nano fillers used in polymer matrix composites to enhance the mechanical properties. However, reliability of this type of nano composites is yet to be ensured in hydrothermal environment. The present work investigates the addition of nano TiO₂ filler on water sorption, residual strength and thermal properties of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites. The results revealed that addition of 0.1 wt% TiO₂ has reduced water diffusion coefficient by 9%, improved residual flexural strength by 19% and residual interlaminar shear strength by 18% among all the nano TiO₂ modified composites. The improvement of mechanical properties in hydrothermal environment creates opportunity and reliability to be used in different engineering applications. Weibull design parameters are evaluated and found a good agreement between Weibull stress-strain curves and experimental one. Fractographic analysis confirmed the various failures and strengthening mechanisms of nano composites in dry and hydrothermal environment.     

Multivariable dependency of thermal shrinkage in highly aligned polypropylene tapes for self-reinforced polymer composites

Self-reinforced composites offer a unique combination of properties such as high specific strength, high impact resistance, and recyclability by incorporating highly aligned fibers within a random matrix of the same polymer. However, high temperatures will shrink the system to recover randomness in the aligned segments, compromising the composite thermal stability during processing as self-reinforced tapes are consolidated into the final composite through heating and pressure. Hence, the dynamic nonlinear multivariable (i.e., time, temperature, stress) shrinkage exhibited by self-reinforced polypropylene (SRPP) tapes was measured and modeled at the maximum shrinkage limit achieved in the proximity of the composite processing temperature [∼140 to160 °C]. At high stress (∼7.5 MPa) the thermal shrinkage of the SRPP tapes was reduced and a parallel creep mechanism was activated. The modeling, and prediction of the main factors governing the thermal shrinkage expand and diversify the dynamic design window for new SRPP composites.     

Zirconium tungstate/cyanate ester nanocomposites with tailored thermal expansivity

The dimensional stability of polymer matrix composites can be enhanced by reducing the mismatch in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between the high CTE polymer matrix and low CTE fiber reinforcements, which leads to development of residual stresses and matrix microcracking. A potential strategy to diminish these residual stresses involves development of polymer nanocomposites with well dispersed nanoparticles that reduce the extent of mismatch in CTE. In this work, we explore the potential for development of bulk polymer nanocomposites with tailored thermal expansivity through incorporation of zirconium tungstate nanoparticles that are characterized by a negative CTE in a unique low viscosity bisphenol E cyanate ester (BECy) thermosetting polymer matrix. Incorporation of up to 10 vol.% whisker-like nanoparticles, synthesized by a hydrothermal method, results in a 20% reduction in the CTE of the polymer matrix. However, the nanoparticles exert a dramatic catalytic effect on the cure reaction of BECy resin and subsequently decrease the onset temperature of the glass transition for the cured polymer network, at high filler loadings.     

Processing a glass fiber reinforced vinyl ester composite with nanotube enhancement of interlaminar shear strength

Carbon nanotubes have been considered as a promising means of enhancing the properties of advanced composites in a range of polymer systems. Expected property enhancements include high strength and stiffness, improved toughness, impact and through-thickness properties. Z-axis properties like shear strength are of special interest for laminated composite structures subjected to transverse loads. This paper reports the processing of a glass fiber reinforced vinyl ester composite with nanotube integration and examines the reinforcement potential on interlaminar shear strength. Several sidewall functionalized nanotube derivatives were also prepared in order to obtain high dispersion and matrix bonding. Carbon nanotube enhanced vinyl ester/glass fiber composites were fabricated by a vacuum assisted resin transfer molding process. Overcoating the glass fiber weave with nanotubes and processing modification led to enhancement of the interface properties. A maximum of 45% increase in shear strength over control sample was observed on several types of nanotubes with a very small amount of nanotubes (0.015 wt%) coated in the midplane ply.     

Interactions at fiber/matrix interface in short fiber reinforced amorphous thermoplastic composites modified with micro- and nano-fillers

This study aims at systematically extracting fiber/matrix interfacial strength in short-glass fiber-reinforced polymer composites using an experimental micromechanics approach which employs mechanical properties and residual fiber length distributions to derive the apparent interfacial shear strength. We started from neat high-impact polystyrene matrix short-glass fiber-reinforced composites (HIPS/GF) with varying fiber loading and proceeded toward HIPS/GF hybrid composites containing micro- and nano-fillers where complex fiber/matrix interfacial interactions exist. It was found that apparent interfacial shear strength does not vary with fiber content, while the presence of fillers with different length-scales alters fiber/matrix interactions depending on their influence on physical properties of the polymer matrix, particularly in the vicinity of reinforcing fiber surfaces.     

Micromechanical simulation of tensile failure of discontinuous fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites using Spring Element Model

The micromechanical damage and strength of discontinuous fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites was simulated by the Spring Element Model (SEM), and SEM was compared with Periodic Unit-Cell (PUC) simulation to clarify the potential of SEM. Tensile failure simulations indicate that SEM can be effectively used to predict the strength of long discontinuous fiber reinforced composites. The transition between matrix cracking mode and fiber breaking mode is also discussed to clarify the fiber length at which SEM can be used to predict strength. In addition, the strengths predicted with SEM are compared with the results of experiments on long discontinuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites.     

连续纤维增强树脂复合材料纵向压缩强度预测模型的发展及其影响因素

基于高强、高韧、高模和压拉平衡为特征的第三代先进复合材料的需求,综述了连续纤维增强树脂复合材料纵向压缩强度预测模型的发展历程。基于纤维微屈曲、纤维扭结带、联合预测模型及渐进损伤失效模型,分别讨论了连续纤维增强树脂复合材料压缩失效机制,并在联合预测模型基础上,探究了碳纤维（直径、模量、体积分数、初始偏角）、树脂基体（弹性模量、剪切模量）及纤维/树脂界面三要素对连续纤维增强树脂复合材料纵向压缩强度和压缩失效形式的影响。      

Non-destructive damage sensing and cure monitoring of carbon fiber/epoxyacrylate composites with UV and thermal curing using electro-micromechanical techniques

Interfacial properties and cure monitoring of single-carbon fiber/thermosetting composites by thermal and different ultraviolet (UV) curing processes were investigated using electro-micromechanical test and electrical resistance measurement. During curing process the residual stress was monitored in terms of the electrical resistance and then they were compared to various curing conditions. In thermal cure the tensile strength and modulus of epoxyacrylate matrix were higher than those of UV cure, whereas the failure strain was lower. Interfacial shear strength (IFSS) increased gradually with elapsing UV exposing time and then saturated. For thermal cure the IFSS was significantly higher than that of UV cure, and cure shrinkage was observed due to matrix shrinkage and residual stress due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient (TEC). The difference in electrical resistance, ΔR during thermal curing was larger than that of UV cure. In thermal cure apparent modulus indicating embedding matrix modulus and interfacial adhesion was highest and reaching time up to same stress was shortest. Thermal cure showed the strong durability against the IFSS deterioration after boiling test compared to UV cure.     

Glass fiber reinforced high glass transition temperature thiol–ene networks

Although thiol–ene polymers have highly desirable processing properties the networks usually are limited to having characteristically low glass transition temperatures with low strength. This study is one of the first studies to examine a thiol–ene polymer thermoset matrix, having many industrial advantages compared to conventional polymer matrices, reinforced with continuous E-glass fibers. In order to control the interphase, a mercapto functional sizing of 1 wt% is applied to the glass fibers. The resulting composites of 12 vol% fibers are comparable to glass fiber reinforced polyesters in terms of strength with Young’s modulus. This work contributes to the furthering of thiol–ene ultra-violet cure systems, with their range of advantageous properties, for use in a broader scope of applications by way of creating a stronger material based on a novel class of thermoset matrix.     

Influence of processing parameters on the impact strength of biocomposites: A statistical approach

Injection molded biocomposites from a new biodegradable polymer blend based matrix system and miscanthus natural fibers were successfully fabricated and characterized. The blend matrix, a 40:60 wt% blend of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate), PBAT and poly(butylene succinate), PBS was chosen based on their required engineering properties for the targeted biocomposite uses. A big scientific challenge of biocomposites is in improving impact strength within the desired tensile and flexural properties. The stiffness–toughness balance is one of the biggest scientific hurdles in natural fiber composites. Thus, the key aspect of the present study was in investigating an in-depth statistical approach on influence of melt processing parameters on the impact strength of the biocomposite. A full factorial experimental design was used to predict the statistically significant variables on the impact strength of the PBS/PBAT/miscanthus biocomposites. Among the selected processing parameters, fiber length has a most significant effect on the impact strength of the biocomposites.     

Optimization of infrared radiation cure process parameters for glass fiber reinforced polymer composites

Elevated temperature post curing is one of the most critical step in the processing of polymer composites. It ensures that the complete cross-linking takes place to produce the targeted properties of composites. In this work infrared radiation (IR) post curing process for glass fiber reinforced polymer composite laminates is studied as an alternative to conventional thermal cure. Distance from the IR source, curing schedule and volume of the composite were selected as the IR cure parameters for optimization. Design of experiments (DOE) approach was adopted for conducting the experiments. Tensile strength and flexural strength of the composite laminate were the responses measured to select the final cure parameters. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), surface plots and contour plots clearly demonstrate that the distance from the IR source and volume of the composite contribute nearly 70% to the response functions. This establishes that polymer composites cured using IR technique can achieve the same properties using only 25% of the total time compared to that of conventional thermal curing.     

Mechanical performance of CNT-filled glass fiber/epoxy composite in in-situ elevated temperature environments emphasizing the role of CNT content

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are one of the prime choice nano-filler reinforcement for fibrous polymeric composites. But the stability of the CNT/polymer interface is yet to be ensured for elevated temperature engineering applications. Present study deals with the assessment of elevated temperature durability of glass fiber/epoxy (GE) composite with various level of multi walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) loading. Flexural testing at room temperature revealed that addition of 0.1% MWCNT yielded maximum strength (+32.8% over control GE) and modulus (+11.5% over control GE) amongst all the CNT modified composite systems. Further, MWCNT–GE composites resulted in accelerated degradation of mechanical performance with increasing temperature as compared to GE composite. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) was carried out to study the viscoelastic behavior of all composites over a range of temperature. The design parameters were evaluated by Weibull probability function. Fractographic analysis figured out various failure modes in all composites at various temperatures.     

Investigations on NiAl composites fabricated by matrix coated single crystalline Al2O3-fibers with and without hBN interlayer

The intermetallic compound NiAl has excellent potential for high temperature structural applications but suffers from low temperature brittleness and insufficient high temperature strength. One way to remove these deficiencies is the reinforcement by high strength ceramic fibers. Such intermetallic matrix composites can be conveniently fabricated by the hot pressing of matrix coated fibers. Al₂O₃ single crystal fibers show excellent chemical stability with the NiAl matrix, but the residual thermal compressive stresses during cool down dramatically degrades the fiber strength and thus, renders the composite useless for structural applications. We report on an experimental and computational study to mitigate this problem and to fabricate Al₂O₃/NiAl composites with sufficient high temperature strength. Analytical TEM, mechanical testing and push-out tests were employed to characterize chemistry, microstructure and mechanical properties of the composites. It will be shown that a processing window exists that allows producing intermetallic matrix composites with promising mechanical properties.     

云母和纤维组合增强聚丙烯复合材料Ⅱ.界面性能研究

用单丝拔出法测定了云母和纤维组俣增强聚丙烯合材料中纤维与基体之间的界面结合强度，测定了云母和纤维组合增强聚丙烯复合材料的结晶温度，动态储存模量和线膨胀系数，并计算了纤维因基体体积收缩而形成的径向热残余压缩应力和基体与纤维之间的摩擦系数，研究了云母对纤维和基体界面性能的影响，结果表明，云母的加入使纤维受到的残余应力增加，摩擦系数显著下降，导致基体与纤维界面的结合强度随云母含量的增加先上升后下降。     

Vacuum-assisted resin infusion (VARI) and hot pressing for CaCO3 nanoparticle treated kenaf fiber reinforced composites

This work was to apply the vacuum-assisted resin infusion (VARI) process and use calcium carbonate inorganic nanoparticle impregnation (INI) to improve the mechanical properties and water resistance of the kenaf fiber/polyester composites. The results show that the modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rapture (MOR), tensile modulus (TE) and tensile strength (TS) of the composites made with INI-treated fibers are increased by 33.1%, 64.3%, 22.3% and 67.8%, respectively, compared with the composites made with un-treated fibers. The thickness swelling of 24-h water submersion is reduced from 19.7% to 1.9%. The moisture contents of the composites after the conditioning and water submersion are reduced from 5.8% to 1.5% and 18.3% to 2.2%, respectively, when INI-treated fibers are employed. The improvement makes the kenaf fiber/polyester composites possible to replace the glass fiber SMC for the automobile application.     

Developing rigid gliadin based biocomposites with high mechanical performance

We aim to produce unidirectional fiber composites with high mechanical performance based on flax fibers and a rigid gliadin matrix. As a fraction from wheat gluten, gliadin is soluble in alcohol containing media. The fabrication process did not involve any further solvents or plasticizers. Finally, samples were cooled at different rates. Overall, the cooling rate does not strongly affect the mechanical properties although slowly cooled materials contain a higher amount of non-disulfide cross-links, next to disulfide bonds within the gliadin matrix. At 40% fiber volume fraction, flax/gliadin composites with a flexural modulus and strength of respectively 21.5 GPa and 240 MPa were obtained when loaded in the longitudinal direction. These high values demonstrate that in this composite fabrication process, a good impregnation of the polymer matrix in between the fiber bundles has been achieved. However, the fiber–matrix adhesion, as measured by transverse flexural and tensile tests, was still relatively modest.     

Processing and properties of poly(methyl methacrylate)/carbon nanofiber composites

Single wall carbon nanotubes, multiwall carbon nanotubes, as well as carbon nanofibers (CNF) are being used for reinforcing polymer matrices. In this study, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanocomposites have been processed by melt blending, containing two different grades (PR-21-PS and PR-24-PS) of CNF manufactured by Applied Sciences Inc. The amount of nanofibers used was 5 and 10% by weight, respectively. The PMMA/CNF composites were processed into 4 mm diameter rods and 60 μm diameter fibers using the small-scale melt processing fiber spinning equipment. At 5 wt% CNF, composite rods as well as fibers show over 50% improvement in axial tensile modulus as compared to the control PMMA rod and fibers, respectively. The reinforcement efficiency decreased at 10 wt% CNFs. The PMMA/CNF nanocomposite fibers also show enhanced thermal stability, significantly reduced shrinkage and enhanced modulus retention with temperature, as well as improved compressive strength. CNF reinforcement efficiency has been analyzed using the modified Cox model.     

生物态碳-陶瓷基复合材料制备方法的研究现状EI北大核心CSCD

近年来,碳-陶瓷基复合材料因其耐高温、低密度、抗腐蚀性能好、热膨胀系数低、性能可设计性强等特点成为研究热点之一,将生物态材料的多孔结构引入陶瓷基体中制备具有生物形态的碳-陶瓷复合材料的研究已引起关注。本文综述了生物态碳-陶瓷基复合材料的多孔结构、制备工艺、性能以及应用前景。强调设计材料微观结构的重要性,并详细介绍了碳-陶瓷基复合材料制备过程中的关键技术——渗透技术,包括:化学气相渗透、熔融渗透、溶胶凝胶渗透、料浆渗透、聚合物前驱体渗透、熔盐渗透六种渗透技术,并对其存在的问题提出解决方案。综述了生物态碳-陶瓷基复合材料压缩强度和断裂强度等性能,对未来的性能研究方向提出建议,指出应测试高温、强酸强碱、冷热交替环境下材料的力学性能。探讨生物态碳-陶瓷基复合材料在航空发动机叶片、汽车尾气净化器、催化剂载体三个方面的潜在应用,概述在复杂成型、较强的力学性能和热稳定性等方面的挑战和实际局限性。最后,对生物形态的碳-陶瓷基复合材料制备工艺的改进、力学性能的研究进行展望,为生物态碳-陶瓷基复合材料的研制和应用提供理论依据和参考。     

大掺量高吸附性石粉高强机制砂混凝土收缩开裂抑制试验

针对大掺量高吸附性石粉高强机制砂混凝土早期易发生收缩开裂的问题,开展了掺加膨胀剂、减缩剂、聚乙烯醇(PVA)纤维、高吸水树脂(SAP)混凝土的早期收缩、抗裂和力学试验,并利用核磁共振仪和扫描电子显微镜对混凝土孔结构和微观形貌进行了测试,揭示抑制收缩开裂的机制。试验结果表明:掺入膨胀剂、减缩剂、PVA纤维、预吸水SAP均能有效抑制混凝土早期收缩和开裂,其中掺预吸水SAP降低早期收缩的效果最好,收缩应变可降低93%,PVA纤维抑制早期开裂的作用最明显,总开裂面积可降低68.26%,同时,掺入两者会使混凝土力学性能提高,而掺入膨胀剂和减缩剂会使混凝土力学性能降低。SEM图像表明,SAP能将预吸收的水分释放到混凝土中,促进水泥水化反应,而PVA纤维的掺入改善了混凝土内部孔隙结构,有良好的填充作用和桥接作用。核磁共振试验表明,抑制收缩开裂的机制是通过改善混凝土孔隙结构,增强界面密实度,从而减小早期收缩,进而提高抗裂性能。      

Thermoreversible and remendable glass-polymer interface for fiber-reinforced composites

Adhesion of the reinforcement to the polymer matrix is essential for load transfer from the polymer matrix to the reinforcement material in fiber-reinforced composites. The reversible Diels-Alder reaction between a furan-functionalized epoxy-amine thermosetting matrix with a maleimide-functionalized glass fiber was used to impart remendability at the polymer-glass interface for potential application in glass fiber-reinforced composites. At room temperature the Diels-Alder adduct is formed spontaneously and above 90 °C the adduct breaks apart to reform the original furan and maleimide moieties. Healing of the interface was investigated with single fiber microdroplet pull-out testing. Following complete failure of this interface, significant healing was observed, with some specimens recovering over 100% of the initial properties. Healing efficiency was not affected by the distance of displacement, with an overall average of 41% healing efficiency. Up to five healing cycles were successfully achieved. It is expected that a glass fiber-reinforced composite of maleimide-sized glass within a furan-functionalized network will demonstrate extension of fatigue life.