Composite reinforcement, textile fiber

In addition to its use as fibers, wood is also used in particulate form (as woodflour) in polymer composites. When used as woodflour, it acts as a filler rather than a reinforcement. Wood and plant fibers are available as non-woven fiber mats and these are the most widely used preforms for composite reinforcement. Lignocellulosic fibers may also be spun into yarn which can be used to make preforms of woven fabrics and noncrimp fabrics. Woven fabrics are mostly used for textile applications while non-crimp fabrics of flax fibers have recently been introduced specifically for use as reinforcement... 

Liquid rubbers In order to improve the flexibihty of short glass fiber-reinforced epoxy composites, Kaynak et al. [53] modified the epoxy resin matrix with hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) liquid mbber. A silane coupling agent was also used to improve the interfacial adhesion between glass fibers and epoxy matrix. However, Humpidge et al. [54] reported some unique processing problems for the resulting pasty mixmres when short textile fibers were incorporated in a hquid mbber medium. 

Mueller D.H. Krobjilowski A. New Discovery in the Properties of Composites Reinforced with Natural Fibers. Journal of Industrial Textiles, vol.33, No.2, (2003), pp. 111-130. 

Van Rijswijk K and Bersee HEN (2007) Reactive processing of textile fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites - An overview, Compos Part A 38 666-681. 

As a general rule, self-reinforced composites consist either of layers of highly-oriented thermoplastic textiles [4-7] or of a combination of self-reinforced textiles and a similar thermoplastic matrix material, which is added in the form of a film, powder or melt [1]. These are then hot-compacted to structurally consolidated mono-composites under pressure and temperature in a pressing process. For the most part, the fiber composite concept relies upon the embedding of stretched endless fibers or tapes made of PP into a chemically identical matrix. 

Cellulose is a fascinating biopolymer that has always been used in the production of textile fibers. Due to environmental concerns intense research has been conducted in the past decades in order to substitute traditional carbon or glass fibers used in the production of composites with eco-friendly cellulose fibers. The research in cellulose-based biocomposites is now focused on the concept of self-reinforced nanocomposites. In this sense all-cellulose composites have been investigated showing mechanical properties comparable or even better than those of traditional composites. Cellulose and its derivatives may also show liquid crystalline mesophases, which can be used to produce new and biomimetic materials with distinctive mechanical and optical properties. Most likely, enhanced mechanical properties will be obtained in all-cellulose nanocomposites by taking full advantage of the orientational order, when both the matrix and the fibers are in a liquid crystalline state. 

Textile fibers made from glass, aramid, or carbon can be used as fiber reinforcements for engineering composite materials. Glass in the form of rovings, mats made... 

Recycled materials of many types are coming onto the market. Some companies may even choose to make polymers specifically as compatibilizing additives for selected types of recycled materials. The construction, pipe, and transportation industries are candidates for many of these applications. Ground thermosets with high filler loadings will be an important source of new fillers and manufacturers may be required to use these products in some applications. Recycled textile fibers can serve as reinforcements, which add value to composites if they can be collected in usable forms. 

Using the experience gained during the development of MFC, anothei- type of polymer-polymer composite, the nanofibrillar composites could be developed. For this purpose, two immiscible polymei-s, PP and PET in the present case, were intimately melt blended in a twin screw extruder and further spun as textile fibers with a diameter of 30 pm. After thermal treatment of knitted samples above the of PP but below the of PET, one obtains a composite structure where the isotropic PP is reinforced with PET nanofibrils with diameters of 50-150 nm and an aspect ratio of up to 7000. The NFC shows an improvement of Young s modulus of 50% and tensile strength of 22% as compared to the neat PP. 

A textile composite reinforced by woven or nonwoven fabrics, knits, or braids is a material of great interest Conventional textile composites are developed as the combination of various synthetic fibers and resins. On the other hand, material developed by the combination of natural fibers and natural-resource-based resin may be called a textile biocomposite. Natural fibers are first changed into bundle form, known as slivers, and then spun into a continuous yam. Spun yams are often twisted around each other to make a heavier yarn, called a twisted or plied yarn. Such spun yams are processed into final textile products such as woven fabrics, knits, and braids. The textile biocomposites described in this chapter are natural-resource-based resin composites reinforced by such spun yarns or textile products. Section 10.1 describes the elastic properties oftwisted yam biocomposites of ramie, and Section 10.2 introduces the development and evaluation of bladed yarn composites made from jute. 

C. Weimer (2002) Sewing technology to assemble textile reinforcement for fiber-reinforced composites, PhD Thesis, University of Kaiserslautern, ISBN 3-934930-27-1, IVW Volume 31 (in German). 

A. Peled and A. Bentur, Cementitious composites reinforced with textile fabrics . Paper 35 in H.W. Reinhardt and A.E. Naaman (eds) Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cement Composites (HPFRCC3), Proc. RILEM, PRO 6, RILEM Publications, Bagneux, France, 1999, 31-40. 

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