Aramid fibers, description

A more extensive description of aramid fibers is given in Chapter 15, Section 15.11. 

Description and general properties. Polymer matrix composites (PMCs) consist of a pol)oner matrix or resin reinforced with glass fibers and to a lesser extent carbon, boron and pol)r-aramide fibers. The resin systems used to manufacture advanced composites are of two basic types thermosets and thermoplastics (see Chapter 11). Thermosetting resins predominate today, while thermoplastics have only a minor role in advanced-composite manufacture. Thermoset resins require the addition of a curing agent or hardener and impregnation onto... 

The reinforcement of rubbers using nylon, rayon, vinyl, and polyester fibers was reported by various authors [10,58,73-75]. Because of the design flexibility and suitable end-use applications, high-performance fibers such as glass, carbon, and aramid also find extensive applications in short fiber-reinforced mbbers. A brief description of some of the major high-performance fibers commonly used in short fiber-rubber composites is given below ... 

In what follows, we first describe general processing techniques used to make synthetic polymeric fibers, followed by a description of the processing, structure, and properties of some important low modulus organic fibers. Finally, we describe, in some detail, two commercially important, high-stifihess fibers aramid and polyethylene. 

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