Effect of water and fiber length on the mechanical properties of polypropylene matrix composites

This paper presents the results of a current study on polypropylene matrix composites processed by injection, with two different glass fiber lengths and five different volume fractions. Physical and mechanical properties were obtained, namely flexural strength, stiffness modulus and fracture toughness. The mechanical properties of the composites increased significantly with the increase of the fibers volume fraction in agreement with the Counto model. The effect of water immersion time was also analysed. Immersion in water promotes a marked decrease in mechanical properties in the early seven-ten days, and afterwards tends to stabilize. Water causes a decrease of the relative strength which increases with fiber volume fraction and reaches about 29 % and 32 % for 20 % of 4.5 mm fiber length and for 25 % of 12 mm fiber length respectively, after 28 days immersion in water. Fracture toughness increases with fiber volume fraction and is always higher for 12 mm fiber length composites than for 4.5 mm fiber length composites.     

Flexural characteristics of coir fiber reinforced cementitious composites

This study has examined the flexural properties of natural and chemically modified coir fiber reinforced cementitious composites (CFRCC). Coir fibers of two different average lengths were used, and the longer coir fibers were also treated with a 1 % NaOH solution for comparison. The fibers were combined with cementitious materials and chemical agents (dispersant, defoamer or wetting agent) to form CFRCC. The flexural properties of the composites, including elastic stress, flexural strength, toughness and toughness index, were measured. The effects of fiber treatments, addition of chemical agents and accelerated ageing of composites on the composites’ flexural properties were examined. The results showed that the CFRCC samples were 5–12 % lighter than the conventional mortar, and that the addition of coir fibers improved the flexural strength of the CFRCC materials. Toughness and toughness index, which were associated with the work of fracture, were increased more than ten times. For the alkalized long coir fiber composites, a higher immediate and long-term toughness index was achieved. SEM microstructure images revealed improved physicochemical bonding in the treated CFRCC.     

Evaluation of mechanical properties of jute/glass/carbon fibers reinforced hybrid composites

A study on the tensile and flexural properties of jute-glass-carbon fibers reinforced epoxy hybrid composites in inter-ply configuration is presented in this paper. Test specimens were manufactured by hand lay-up process and their tensile and flexural properties were obtained. The effects of the hybridization, different fibers content and plies stacking sequence on the mechanical properties of the tested hybrid composites were investigated. Two-parameter Weibull distribution function was used to statistically analyze the experimental results. The failure probability graphs for the tested composites were drawn. These graphs are important tools for helping the designers to understand and choose the suitable material for the required design and development. Results showed that the hybridization process can potentially improve the tensile and flexural properties of jute reinforced composite. The flexural strength decreases when partial laminas from a carbon/epoxy laminate are replaced by glass/epoxy or jute/epoxy laminas. Also, it is realized that incorporating high strength fibers to the outer layers of the composite leads to higher flexural resistance, whilst the order of the layers doesn’t affect the tensile properties.     

Completely biodegradable soyprotein-jute biocomposites developed using water without any chemicals as plasticizer

Soyprotein-jute fiber composites developed using water without any chemicals as the plasticizer show much better flexural and tensile properties than polypropylene-jute composites. Co-products of soybean processing such as soy oil, soyprotein concentrate and soy protein isolates are inexpensive, abundantly available and are renewable resources that have been extensively studied as potential matrix materials to develop biodegradable composites. However, previous attempts on developing soy-based composites have either chemically modified the co-products or used plasticizers such as glycerol. Chemical modifications make the composites expensive and less environmentally friendly and plasticizers decrease the properties of the composites. In this research, soyprotein composites reinforced with jute fibers have been developed using water without any chemicals as plasticizer. The effects of water on the thermal behavior of soyproteins and composite fabrication conditions on the flexural, tensile and acoustic properties of the composites have been studied. Soyprotein composites developed in this research have excellent flexural strength, tensile strength and tensile modulus, much higher than polypropylene (PP)-jute fiber composites. The soyprotein composites have better properties than the PP composites even at high relative humidity (90%).     

Experimental study on structure and mechanical properties of hemp/PBTG composites with fiber contents and thermal exposures

Most materials used in daily life are polymeric materials based on petrochemistry. The used polymeric materials can cause land pollution and air pollution after landfill or incineration. In contrast, natural fiber reinforced (NFR) composites are more suitable for the environment, however the reliability in terms of the durability and weatherability of NFR composites is still lacking. Thus, NFR composites require the reliability involved with durability and weatherability. In this work, poly(butylene terephthalate-co-glutarate) (PBTG), with a chemical structure similar to biodegradable PBAT, was used as the matrix in the composites, and hemp fibers were used as the reinforcement. Hemp/PBTG composites were fabricated by stacking hemp-fiberwebs and PBTG films with various fiber contents and thermal exposure times. Characteristics of the composites, such as the morphological structure, chemical structure, tensile properties, compressive properties, flexural properties, and impact strength, were analyzed to obtain the effects of fiber volume fraction and thermal exposure. As a result, hemp/PBTG composites were hardened in proportion to fiber volume fractions, and the hardening behavior of the composites increased tensile strength and flexural strength. However, the hardened structure of the composites decreased the impact strength and compressive strength of the composites. On the other hand, the mechanical properties of hemp/PBTG composites with thermal exposure times, were governed significantly by the brittleness behavior of the resin and the increased crystallinity of hemp fibers. Thus, the hemp fibers contributed to the improvements on structural stability, tensile strength and flexural strength of the hemp/PBTG composites, and increased the thermal durability of the composites with various thermal exposures.     

Polypropylene/high-density polyethylene/carbon fiber composites: Manufacturing techniques,mechanical properties,and electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness

This study uses polypropylene (PP)/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) polyblends (80/20 wt.%) as matrices, which are then melt-blended with inorganic carbon fibers (CF) as reinforcement to form electrically conductive PP/HDPE composites. Tensile test, flexural test, Izod impact test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) are performed to evaluate different physical properties of samples. A surface resistance and electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) measurements are used to evaluate the electrical properties of the PP/HDPE/CF composites. Test results show that an increasing content of carbon fibers results in an 18 %, 23 %, and 60 % higher tensile strength, flexural strength, and impact strength, respectively. SEM results show that carbon fibers break as a result of applied force, thereby bearing the force and increasing the mechanical properties of composites. DSC and XRD results show that the addition of carbon fibers causes heterogeneous nucleation in PP/HDPE polyblends, thereby increasing crystallization temperature. However, the crystalline structure of PP/HDPE composites is not affected. Surface resistivity results show that 5 wt.% of carbon fibers can form a conductive network in PP/HDPE polyblends and reduce the surface resistivity from 12×10¹² ohm/sq to 4×10³ ohm/sq. EMI SE results show that, with a 20 wt.% CF and a frequency of 2-3 GHz, the average EMI SE of PP/HDPE/CF composites is between -48 and -52 dB, qualifying their use for EMI SE, which is required for standard electronic devices.     

Mechanical behavior of composites reinforced with fibers caroa

Composites were prepared with 13, 23 30 and 40 % fiber and evaluated the mechanical performance in tensile, flexural and impact. The mechanical properties of these composites were also evaluated function of time at 110 °C thermal exposure. Caroa fibers were characterized by techniques such as thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that the best mechanical properties were achieved for composites containing 23 to 30 % fiber. The incorporation of 23 % fiber caroa increased both the modulus of elasticity in the tensile test as the flexural strength and impact, the composite with 30 % fiber caroa showed higher tensile strength. The results show that the tensile and flexural strength of the composite decreased with time of thermal exposure. The thermal aging at 110 °C caused a decrease in tensile properties of the composites.     

Compressive and flexural properties of hemp fiber reinforced concrete

The compressive and flexural properties of hemp fiber reinforced concretes (FRC) were examined in this paper. Natural hemp fiber was mixed using dry and wet mixing methods to fabricate the FRC. Mechanical properties of the FRC were investigated. The main factors affecting compressive and flexural properties of the FRC materials were evaluated with an orthogonal test design. Fiber content by weight has the largest effect. The method for casting hemp FRC has been optimised. Under the optimum conditions, compressive strength increased by 4 %, flexural strength increased by 9 %, flexural toughness increased by 144 %, and flexural toughness index increased by 214 %.     

Preparation and Investigation of Epoxy Syntactic Foam (Epoxy/Graphite Reinforced Hollow Epoxy Macrosphere/Hollow Glass Microsphere Composite)

Graphite reinforced hollow epoxy macrospheres (GR-HEMS) and hollow glass microspheres (HGMS) were used to prepare three phase epoxy syntactic foam (ESF) using “molding method”, and the physical and mechanical properties of ESF were also studied and investigated. An innovative “rolling ball method” was implemented in the GR-HEMS preparation process. The performance tests show that higher GR-HEMS stacking volume fraction, lower GR-HEMS thickness, higher GR-HEMS diameter, higher HGMS volume fraction, lower HGMS density are beneficial to reducing the density of ESF, but the effects of the five factors on the strength of ESF are the opposite. Therefore, in order to obtain “high strength and low density” ESF composites, the various factors should be considered to achieve a balance of the strength and the density. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) shows that the “rolling ball method” can make graphite form a graphite spherical x-y network throughout the macrosphere wall, which can make GR-HEMS and ESF have great compressive strength. The ESF (450 kg/m³, 20.75 MPa) can withstand the 2075 meters water pressure and provide 550 kg/m³ buoyancy, which can give some advice to the preparation of buoyancy material used in deepwater oil exploration.     

Mechanical and thermal properties of recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) reinforced newspaper fiber composites

This study presents the mechanical and thermal properties of environment-friendly composites made from recycled newspaper fibers reinforced recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (rPET) resin with the addition of styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene grafted maleic anhydride (SEBS-g-MA) as compatibilizer. The effect of SEBS-g-MA addition (i.e., 10 phr) by using a twin-screw extruder to the rPET resin, followed by different fiber content (5, 10 and 15 wt.%) on the tensile, flexural and impact properties of the composites were determined. Stiffness of composites increased significantly compared to those of rPET/SEBS-g-MA blend. Fiber addition resulted in moderate increases in both tensile and flexural strength of the composites. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) photomicrographs of the impact fracture surfaces demonstrate good adhesion at 5 and 10 % fiber content. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that the presence of newspaper fibers enhanced the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics and crystallinity. Thermal stability of the composites was improved as indicated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).     

The effect of gelation and curing temperatures on mechanical properties of pultruded kenaf fibre reinforced vinyl ester composites

Process parameters such as gelation and curing temperatures are parameters that influence the pultruded kenaf reinforced vinyl ester composites profile quality and performance. The effect of gelation and curing temperatures on mechanical (tensile, flexural and compression properties) and morphological properties of pultruded kenaf reinforced vinyl ester composites were analyzed. Obtained results indicated that increase of gelation and curing temperatures during the pultrusion process of kenaf reinforced vinyl ester composites influenced the mechanical properties of the composites. When the gelation and curing temperatures were increased, tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, flexural modulus and compressive strength were affected and they were either increased or decreased. The factors that influenced these results include improper curing, excessive curing, water diffusion, and the problems associated with interfacial bonding between fibre and matrices. The optimum values of the tensile strength for gelation and curing temperatures of kenaf pultruded composites were at 100 °C and 140 °C, tensile modulus at 80 °C and 180 °C, flexural strength at 100 ° and 140 °, flexural modulus at 120 ° and 180 °, and compressive strength at 120 °C and 180 °C, respectively. The scanning electron micrographs of tensile fractured samples clearly show that with the increase in gelation temperature, it creates the lumens between matrix and kenaf fibre thus reducing tensile properties whereas increasing the curing temperature caused less fibre pull out and enhanced fibre/matrix interfacial bonding.     

Comparative study of the mechanical properties of polyester resin with and without reinforcement with fiber-glass and furcraea cabuya fibers

A commercially available polyester resin was reinforced with cabuya fibers. The experimental variables were the fiber loading and the length of the fiber. Tensile strength, flexural strength, and the Izod impact resistance were measured for the samples and compared to the polyester resin performance without reinforcement. Mechanical properties of the cabuya fiber reinforced material were also compared with the same resin but reinforced with glass fibers. An increase in fiber load decreases the tensile strength for the cabuya reinforced composite, where a value of 52.6 MPa corresponded to the tensile stress of the resin without reinforcement and a value of 34.5 MPa for the best reinforcement achieved with cabuya. An increase in both fiber load and length increases the Young’s modulus of the cabuya reinforced material, and a maximum value of 2885 MPa was obtained. The Young’s modulus and impact resistance values for the cabuya composite (2885 MPa and 100.87 J/m, respectively) reached higher values than those obtained for non-reinforced polyester material (2639 MPa and 5.82 J/m, respectively), and lower than the glass fiber composite (5526 MPa and 207.46 J/m, respectively); while the tensile and flexural strength obtained for the cabuya composite (34.5 MPa and 32.6 MPa, respectively) were lower than the unreinforced (52.6 MPa and 62.9 MPa, respectively) and glass fiber reinforced polyester (87.3 MPa and 155 MPa, respectively).     

Fabrication of long and discontinuous natural fiber reinforced polypropylene biocomposites and their mechanical properties

Natural fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP) biocomposites were fabricated by blending long-and-discontinuous (LD) natural fibers (NF) with LD PP fibers. Firstly, random fiber mats were prepared by mixing NFs and PP fibers using a carding process. Then, heat and pressure were applied to the mats, such that the PP fibers dispersed in the mats melted and flowed out, resulting in the formation of consolidated sheets upon subsequent cooling. The effect of the fiber volume fraction on the mechanical properties of the bio-composites was scrutinized by carrying out tensile and flexural tests and observing the interface between the fiber and matrix. It was observed that the natural LD fiber content needs to be maintained at less than the nominal fiber fraction of 40 % by weight for the composites fabricated using the current method, which is quite low compared to that of continuous or short fiber reinforced composites. The limited fiber fraction can be explained by the void content in the biocomposites, which may be caused by the non-uniform packing or the deficiency of the matrix PP fibers.     

Flexural and impact properties of chemically treated sugar palm fiber reinforced high impact polystyrene composites

The effects of chemical treatment on the flexural and impact properties of sugar palm fiber reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites were studied. Two types of concentration of alkali solution (4 % and 6 %) and also two types of percentage of compatibilizing agent (2 % and 3 %) have been used in this study. The alkaline treatment is carried out by immersing the fibers in 4 % and 6 % of alkali solution for 1 hour. A 40 wt. % of alkali treated sugar palm fiber (SPF) was blended with HIPS using Brabender machine at temperature of 165 °C. The second treatment was employed by compounding mixture of sugar palm fibers and HIPS with 2 and 3 % of compatibilizing agent using the same procedure. The composites plate with dimensions of 150×150×3 mm was produced by using the hot press machine. The flexural strength, flexural modulus and impact strength of composites were measured and the values were compared to the untreated composites. Improvement of the mechanical properties of the composites has been shown successfully. Alkali treatment using 6 % NaOH solution improve the flexural strength, flexural modulus and impact strength of the composites as amount 12 %, 19 % and 34 % respectively, whereas compatibilizing agent treatment only showed the improvement on the impact strength, i.e. 6 % and 16 % improvement for 2 % and 3 % MAH respectively.     

Long term performance study of glass reinforced composites with different resins under marine environment

For marine structural applications which poses significant challenges to the choice of materials due to presence of corrosive seawater, polymer matrix based fiber reinforced composites are increasingly becoming the material of choice. However the performance properties of composites are greatly influenced by the moisture absorbed by the composite. In the current study, the long term performance is assessed by determining the amount of moisture absorbed and the reduction of mechanical properties over 12 months in a simulated sea-water environment at different temperatures. Three commonly used thermoset resins with different chemistry such as unsaturated polyester (USP), epoxy resin (EP) and vinylester (VE) are chosen. The effect of fiber reinforcement on the long term performance is investigated. A suitable method for manufacturing glass reinforced composite with good interfacial bonding and high volume fraction is also developed in current study. It is observed that vinylester plaques and composites absorb lesser moisture compared to USP and Epoxy systems resulting in lesser reduction in flexural strength and making the best performing among polymers studied. It is also found that sea-water diffusion into the composite follows non-Fickian behaviour and diffusion relaxation model fits well with the experimental data and corresponding model parameters are evaluated.     

Bio-composites: Development and mechanical characterization of banana/sisal fibre reinforced poly lactic acid (PLA) hybrid composites

The work focuses on the influencing effect of fiber surface treatment by BP towards mechanical properties of BSF reinforced PLA composites. BSF were treated by BP to improve the adhesion between fibres and matrix. BSF (30 wt %) reinforced PLA (70 wt %) hybrid composites were fabricated by means of twin screw extrusion followed by injection molding process. Tensile strength, flexural strength and modulus were tested by means of UTM. The morphological analysis of the untreated and treated BSF reinforced PLA composites in comparison with virgin PLA was carried out by SEM to examine the existence of interfacial adhesion between BSF and PLA. The resultant data reveals that treated BSF restricts the motion of the PLA matrix due to better wettability and bonding. Consequently, mechanical properties like tensile and flexural moduli of BSF reinforced PLA composites were enhanced in comparison to virgin PLA and untreated BSF reinforced PLA composites. The results are discussed in detail.     

Effect of Basalt Fiber on the Strength Properties of Polymer Reinforced Sand

This paper displays an experimental study of the effect of basalt fiber on the strength properties of polymer reinforced sand. Laboratory trials of unconfined compression test (UCS), direct shear test, and tensile test were conducted on the specimens treated with polymer and basalt fiber, and several factors including polymer content, fiber content and dry density of sand that will influence the strength behaviors are investigated in detail. Based on test results and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images, the reinforcement mechanism was analyzed. The results showed that the polymer content, basalt fiber content and dry density of sand had greatly improved the strength behaviors of reinforced specimens. The increase in polymer and fiber content had an active effect on strength characteristics, while the angle of internal decreased slightly. The strength properties were enhanced with the increase in dry density, and the effect of dry density on tensile strength is affected by fiber content. The presence of randomly distributed fibers has formed a spatial fiber-sand net in sand, and the additive of polymer solution formed membrane to enwrap sand particles and connect sand and fibers, thereby formed a stable structure in sand. These structures have increased the bonding and interlocking forces between sand and fibers, and decreased the void ratio of reinforced specimens.     

Development of mathematical models and estimation for the mechanical properties of organic fiber reinforced polyester composites

Organic fiber from animal waste was used for the development of environmentally friendly animal fiber based polyester composites using cow hair. The cow hair fibers were cut into 10 mm lengths to produce the needed short fiber for random dispersion in the matrix. Before use, some of the fibers were treated with sodium hydroxide for fiber surface modification while some were left as untreated. Composites were developed using predetermined proportions of the fibers in an open mould production process. Samples were formed into tensile and flexural shape in their respective moulds and were stripped off the moulds after curing while further curing was ensured for 27 days before testing. Tensile and flexural properties of the cow hair fiber reinforced polyester composites were evaluated from which it was discovered that the untreated fiber reinforced composites possess better enhancement of mechanical properties compared to the treated fiber reinforced composites and the unreinforced polyester material. Mathematical models for the tensile and flexural properties were developed using statistical packages and estimation using developed software. The developed models revealed high degree of correlation between the experimental values and the predicted values. This denotes that the models can be used to predict the mechanical properties of cow hair reinforced polyester composites for various reinforcement contents.     

Effect of mercerization on mechanical, thermal and degradation characteristics of jute fabric-reinforced polypropylene composites

Jute fabric reinforced polypropylene composites were fabricated by compression molding technique. Fiber content in the composites was optimized at 45 % by weight of fiber by evaluating the mechanical parameters such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, bending strength, bending modulus. Surface treatment of jute fabrics was carried out by mercerizing jute fabrics with aqueous solutions of NaOH (5, 10 and 20 %) at different soaking times (30, 60 and 90 mins) and temperatures (0, 30 and 70 °C). The effect of mercerization on weight and dimension of jute fabrics was studied. Mechanical properties of mercerized jute-PP composites were measured and found highest at 20 % NaOH at 0 °C for 60 min soaking time. Thermal analytical data from thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis showed that mercerized jute-PP composite achieved higher thermal stability compared to PP, jute fabrics and control composite. Degradation characteristics of the composites were studied in soil, water and simulated weathering conditions. Water uptake of the composites was also investigated.     

Experimental study on compressive,flexural and fatigue behavior of warp-knitted spacer fabrics reinforced polyurethane cast elastomer composites

This paper reports an experimental study on compressive, flexural and fatigue behavior of polyurethane cast elastomers (PCE) reinforced with warp-knitted spacer fabrics (WKSF). It aims to investigate new applications for these fabrics as the reinforcements for elastomeric parts such as shoe soles, rubber floor coverings, vibration dampening and shock absorbing pads, etc. A series of polyester WKSF with different thickness, structure of outer layer fabric and spacer yarns density was prepared and converted to PCE reinforced WKSF using the hand molding method. All the samples, including the neat PCE, were subjected to static compression, flat and spherical compression, three-point bending and flexural fatigue tests. The results showed that reinforcing PCE with WKSF, considerably enhances its spherical compressive strength (concentrated loading), flexural strength and fatigue resistance. However, it deteriorates flat compressive strength (distributed loading) and recovery behavior after static compression loading. The effect of fiber weight fraction, thickness, structure of outer layer fabric and spacer yarns density on the mentioned properties of the composites was discussed in the paper.