Material reinforcing

Many different reinforcing fibers are used in laminates and reinforced polymers. Which fiber is selected depends upon the cost, the properties 

Atmospheric Resistance of Fiberglass-Reinforced Thermoset Polymers 

Polymer UV Degradation Moisture Absorption Weathering Ozone SO2 NO2 H2S 

Mineral, organic and metallic fibers, and the surfaced materials made from them such as fleece mats, textiles, and weaves, not only make possible economical manufacturing of materials with specifically targeted physical property improvements based on standard plastics and technical molding compounds, but also help manage high mechanical stress loads, which are often direction-dependent and show local variations, with anisotropic composite structures. 

Homogeneous dispersion of nanoparticles of nanofibers in plastic — a problem yet to be solved satisfactorily - results, assuming equal parts by volume of nanoparticles and microparticles, in a significantly larger number of particles (10 with 1 pm to 1 nm particles), producing a polymer entity based entirely on interfacial interactions. Miilhaupt et al. [77] have called these materials interfacial polymers. This approach opens up new opportunities to modify the properties of older plastic types with low volumes of reinforcing nanomaterials. 

Nanofillers have actually been around for decades (the oldest for over a century) carbon blacks, pigments, precipitated silicic acid (Ultrasil, Degussa-Hiils), pyrogenic silicic acids (Aerosile, Degussa-Hiils), phyllosilicates, nucleation agents, reactive silicone nanoparticles for epoxy resins, ceramic materials and inorganic-organic hybrid particles from sol-gel transformations, for example synthetic, dispersible aluminate (boehmite) powder. 

New developments in recent years have included inorganic and organic molecules with nanodimensions and freely variable surface functionalities that dissolve 

The spectrum of applications is broad, including raw substances for lacquers and adhesives, pigment and filler dispersants, ink additives, detergents, and cosmetics [77]. 

It has been pointed out that surface treatment of fibers significantly improves the physical strength of the composite (14). The reinforcing fibers should be surface-treated before use. Examples of the treatment include chemical treatment, such as silane compounds and titanates (20), and (fiysical treatment such as corona and ultraviolet pl na (14). 

Most fiber reinforcements on the market have been surface-treated for the convenience of composite production. Organic fibers, such as polyamide (Kevlar, DuPont), pofyamide coated polyester fiber (COlbadc, BASF (26) can also be used. 

The same blowing agmits used for polyurethane foams can be used 

The surfactants employed for polyurethane foams can be also used for preparing foamed composites. The surfactants include silicone surfactants, which consist of polysiloxane-polyoxyalkylene block-copolymers. 

Aramid fibers are widely used as reinforcing fibers in high performance composites. One disadvantage is the poor adhesion to the matrix materials. This arises from the lack of functional groups in the polymer. To overcome the lack of adhesion, the fibers are treated by so-called finish formulations, which is essentially a surface treatment. 

Aramid tire cords have been treated by argon plasma etching and plasma polymerization of acetylene. The combination of argon plasma etching and acetylene plasma polymerization results in a greatly improved pull-out force of 91 N in comparison to 34 N with the untreated aramid tire cord. Thus, the plasma treatment improves the adhesion to rubber compounds.  

The effectiveness of such a finish can be tested by various methods, including  

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Chemical Resistance. Table 2 shows the chemical resistance of PVA fiber (40). The fiber exhibits markedly high resistance to organic solvents, oils, salts, and alkaU. In particular, the fiber has unique resistance to alkaU, and is hence widely used in the form of a paper principally comprising it and as reinforcing material for cement as a replacement of asbestos. 

Advanced composites and fiber-reinforced materials are used in sailcloth, speedboat, and other types of boat components, and leisure and commercial fishing gear. A ram id and polyethylene fibers are currentiy used in conveyer belts to collect valuable offshore minerals such as cobalt, uranium, and manganese. Constmction of oil-adsorbing fences made of high performance fabrics is being evaluated in Japan as well as the constmction of other pollution control textile materials for maritime use. For most marine uses, the textile materials must be resistant to biodeterioration and to a variety of aqueous pollutants and environmental conditions. 

Laminates aie materials made up of plies or laminae stacked up like a deck of cards and bonded together. Plywood is a common example of a laminate. It is made up of thin pHes of wood veneer bonded together with various glues. Laminates ate a form of composite material, ie, they ate constmcted from a continuous matrix and a reinforcing material (1) (see also Reinforced plastics). 

Metal-Matrix Composites. A metal-matrix composite (MMC) is comprised of a metal ahoy, less than 50% by volume that is reinforced by one or more constituents with a significantly higher elastic modulus. Reinforcement materials include carbides, oxides, graphite, borides, intermetahics or even polymeric products. These materials can be used in the form of whiskers, continuous or discontinuous fibers, or particles. Matrices can be made from metal ahoys of Mg, Al, Ti, Cu, Ni or Fe. In addition, intermetahic compounds such as titanium and nickel aluminides, Ti Al and Ni Al, respectively, are also used as a matrix material (58,59). P/M MMC can be formed by a variety of full-density hot consolidation processes, including hot pressing, hot isostatic pressing, extmsion, or forging. 

In concrete, triethanolamine accelerates set time and increases early set strength (41—43). These ate often formulated as admixtures (44), for later addition to the concrete mixtures. Compared to calcium chloride, another common set accelerator, triethanolamine is less corrosive to steel-reinforcing materials, and gives a concrete that is more resistant to creep under stress (45). Triethanolamine can also neutralize any acid in the concrete and forms a salt with chlorides. Improvement of mechanical properties, whiteness, and more even distribution of iron impurities in the mixture of portland cements, can be effected by addition of 2% triethanolamine (46). Triethanolamine bottoms and alkanolamine soaps can also be used in these type appUcations. Waterproofing or sealing concrete can be accompUshed by using formulations containing triethanolamine (47,48). 

The metal fillers act as a reinforcing material that results in added strength and stiffness (126). They color the plastic gray for nickel, 2inc, stainless steel, and aluminum, and brown for copper. Metal additives are more expensive than carbon black or surface-active agents, but they get extensive use in EMI shielding appHcations. 

The primary constituent of practically ah. asbestos—organic friction materials was asbestos fiber, with smah quantities of other fibrous reinforcement material. Asbestos was chosen because of its thermal stabhity, its relatively high friction, and its reinforcing properties. Because asbestos alone did not offer ah of the desked properties, other materials cahed property modifiers were added to provide desked levels of friction, wear, fade, recovery, noise, and rotor compatibihty. A reski bkider held the other materials together. This bkider is not completely neutral and makes contributions to the friction and wear characteristics of the composite. The more commonly used kigredients can be found ki various patents (6—9). 

Reinforcements. The high modulus, high intrinsic strength, and temperature stabiHty make SiC, in the form of whiskers, platelets, and fibers, a promising candidate reinforcement material for metal, polymer, and ceramic matrix composites (qv). 

Fibrous Composites. These composites consist of fibers in a matrix. The fibers may be short or discontinuous and randomly arranged continuous filaments arranged parallel to each other in the form of woven rovings (coUections of bundles of continuous filaments) or braided (8). In the case of chopped strand mat the random arrangement is planar. In whisker (needle-shaped crystals or filaments of carbon and ceramics) reinforced materials the arrangement is usually three-dimensional and the resulting composites are macroscopically homogeneous. 

A related and important issue in choosing a reinforcing material is the chemical compatibiUty of the reinforcement with the matrix. The... 

A polymer blend is a physical or mechanical blend (alloy) of two or more homopolymers or copolymers. Although a polymer blend is not a copolymer according to the above definition, it is mentioned here because of its commercial importance and the frequency with which blends are compared with chemically bonded copolymers. Another technologically significant material relative to the copolymer is the composite, a physical or mechanical combination of a polymer with some unlike material, eg, reinforcing materials such as carbon black, graphite fiber, and glass (see Composite materials). 

This is also known as Bulk Moulding Compound (BMC). It is blended through a mix of unsaturated polyester resin, crosslinking monomer, catalyst, mineral fillers and short-length fibrous reinforcement materials such as chopped glass fibre, usually in lengths of 6-25 mm. They are all mixed in different proportions to obtain the required electromechanical properties. The mix is processed and cured for a specific time, under a prescribed pressure and temperature, to obtain the DMC. 

The liquid crystal polymers consist of rod-like molecules which, during shear, tend to orient in the direction of shear. Because of the molecular order the molecules flow past each other with comparative ease and the melts have a low viscosity. When the melt is cooled the molecules retain their orientation, giving self-reinforcing materials that are extremely strong in the direction of orientation. 

In the early days nearly all thermosetting moulding materials were composites in that they contained fillers such as woodflour, mica, cellulose, etc to increase their strength. However, these were not generally regarded as reinforced materials in the sense that they did not contain fibres. 

There is no general rule as to whether or not glass reinforcement enhances the fatigue behaviour of the base material. In some cases the matrix exhibits longer fatigue endurances than the reinforced material whereas in other cases the converse is true. In most cases the fatigue endurance of grp is reduced by the presence of moisture. 

A sheet of chopped strand mat-reinforced polyester is 5 mm thick and 10 mm wide. If its modulus is 8 GN/m calculate its flexural stiffness when subjected to a point load of 200 N midway along a simply supported span of 300 mm. Compare this with the stiffness of a composite beam made up of two 2.5 mm thick layers of this reinforced material separated by a 10 mm thick core of foamed plastic with a modulus of 40 MN/m. ... 

Zvi Hashin and B. Walter Rosen, The Elastic Moduli of Fiber-Reinforced Materials, Journal of Applied Mechanics, June 1964, pp. 223-232. Errata, March 1965, p. 219. 

J. J. Hermans, The Elastic Properties of Fiber Reinforced Materials when the Fibers are Aligned, Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nedertandse Akademie van Weten-schappen, Amsterdam, Series B, Volume 70, Number 1, 1967, pp. 1-9. 

Typical stress-strain curves are shown for the commonly used fiber-reinforced materials fiberglass-epoxy, boron-epoxy, and a representative graphite-epoxy. These curves are not accurate enough for design use ... 

Boron itself has been used for over two decades in filament form in various composites BO3/H2 is reacted at 1300° on the surface of a continuously moving tungsten fibre 12/tm in diameter. US production capacity is about 20 tonnes pa and the price in about 80(. The primary use so far has been in military aircraft and space shuttles, but boron fibre composites are also being studied as reinforcement materials for commercial aircraft. At the domestic level they are finding increasing application in golf shafts, tennis rackets and bicycle frames. 

Oxidation of n-hutane to maleic anhydride is becoming a major source for this important chemical. Maleic anhydride could also be produced by the catalytic oxidation of n-butenes (Chapter 9) and benzene (Chapter 10). The principal use of maleic anhydride is in the synthesis of unsaturated polyester resins. These resins are used to fabricate glass-fiber reinforced materials. Other uses include fumaric acid, alkyd resins, and pesticides. Maleic acid esters are important plasticizers and lubricants. Maleic anhydride could also be a precursor for 1,4-butanediol (Chapter 9). 

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