Fibre reinforced polymer composites fabrics

A.S. Singha and V.K. Thakur, Fabrication of Hibiscus sabdariffa fibre reinforced polymer composites. Iran. Polym. J. 17, 541-553 (2008). 

Singha AS, Thakur VK (2009d) Fabrication and characterization of S. cilliare fibre reinforced polymer composites. Bull Mater Sci 32 49-58... 

Singha AS, Thakur VK (2009c) Synthesis, characterisation and analysis of hibiscus sabdariffa fibre reinforced polymer matrix based composites. Polym Polym Compos 17 189-194 Singha AS, Thakur VK (2009d) Fabrication and characterization of S. cilliare fibre reinforced polymer composites. Bull Mater Sci 32 49-58... 

Numerous research has been conducted which reveal the application of this fiber source as reinforcing material in polymer composites. For instance, it has been used for reinforcement in urea formaldehyde resin-based composite which also suggested that Hibiscus sabdariffa fibre has immense scope in the fabrication of natural fibre reinforced polymer composites for vast number of industrial applications (Singha and Thakur 2008a). The graft copolymeiization of Hibiscus sabdariffa also have been found to be more moisture resistant and also showed better chemical and thermal resistance (Thakur et al. 2011a). 

The mechanical properties of FRP composites are dependent upon the ratio of fibre and matrix material, the mechanical properties of the constituent materials, the fibre orientation in the matrix, and ultimately the processing and methods of fabrication, which are the subject of Part II. Chapters discuss prepreg processing, liquid composite moulding (LCM), filament winding processes and pultrusion of advanced fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. 

Singha AS, Thakur VK (2008c) Synthesis and characterization of pine needles reinforced RF matrix based biocomposites. J Chem 5 1055-1062 Singha AS, Thakur VK (2008d) Fabrication of Hibiscus Sabdariffa fibre reinfOTced polymer composites. Iran Polym J 17 541-553... 

Fig. 3 Consolidation of a self-reinforced polymer composite from a stacked arrangement of fibres dark grey reinforcement phase) and polymer films light grey matrix phase). The fibres are shown normal to the plane of the page, and many layers can be stacked with a suitable number of film plies between layers a). On the application of heat and pressure the polymer films soften and flow between the fibres. Upon cooling, these films become the matrix phase of the composite, while the fibres withstand processing without significant degradation of mechanical properties, and so remain as the reinforcement phase of the composite b). The technique is equally applicable to any planar arrangement of fibres such as woven fabrics and random fibre mats...

The hot compaction technique was very successfully applied to create self-reinforced polymer composites from numerous polymers, as reported in a series of publications from Hine, Ward and others at the University of Leeds and this clearly demonstrated that self-reinforced polymer composites could be produced without the addition of any extra matrix materials. However, Hine et al. also showed that the incorporation of interleaved isotropic polymer films during fabric ply lay-up may provide improvements in interfacial properties, compared to the interfacial properties of composites formed exclusively from hot compacted fibres [96, 146, 147]. hi the case of PE-based composites, a LDPE film was used as an interleaf film, whereas in the case of PP-based composites, the PP interleaf film was of the same grade as the PP used to create the oriented PP tapes. A more recent publication described the S3mergistic effect of combining interleaved films that also... 

Gong et al. later presented a means to create self-reinforced polymer composites based on nylon 6 without the use of separate additional nylon 6 films [186]. The authors reported the polymerisation of s-caprolactam into nylon 6 in situ, i.e. directly polymerising nylon 6 around woven nylon 6 fabric, in a process similar to the resin infusion technique used for the infusion of conventimial composites (such as glass fibre-reinforced thermoset polymer matrices). 

The main options when considering forming self-reinforced polymer composites are direct forming( i.e. directly consolidating the composites from precursor fibres or fabrics in the final form) and thermoforming of preconsolidated laminates. An overview of some forming methods is shown in Fig. 17. 

The appeal of continuous fibre-reinforced polymers, or composite materials, is based on their properties, on the freedom they give the designer to tailor these properties to suit a specific situation and the relative ease with which composites can be fabricated. 

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