Short fiber-rubber composites

Processing Aspects of Short Fiber-Rubber Composites.371... 

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 ... 

Proper reinforcement of rubber matrix using hllers can be achieved only if there exists adequate adhesion between the hller and the mbber. Rubber-mbber adhesion and rubber-hller adhesion both without and with adhesion promoters have been studied extensively [125-127]. Fiber-matrix adhesion in short fiber-rubber composites is always a field of extensive research. If the fibers are not bonded properly with the rubber matrix, fibers will shde past each other under tension deforming the matrix, thereby reducing the strength properties. In the case of short fiber-reinforced rubber composites, loads are not directly applied to the fibers, but are apphed to the matrix. To obtain a high-performance composite, the load must be effectively transferred to the fibers, which is possible only when the fiber-matrix interphase is sufficiently strong. In addition, the adhesion between the fiber and the matrix should be such that the failure occurs in the matrix rather than at the interphase [92]. 

Processing Aspects oe Short Fiber-Rubber Composites... 

A.Y. Coran, K. Boustany, P. Hamed. Short-fiber-rubber composites the properties of oriented cellulose-fiber-elastomer composites. Rubb. Chem. Technol., 47,... 

Ashida, M., Composites of polychloroprene rubber with short fibres of polyfethylene terephthalate) and nylon, in Short Fiber-Polymer Composites, De, S.K. and White, J.R. (Eds.), Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, 1996, Chapter 5. 

Chen, F. and Jones, F. R., Injection moulding of glass fibre reinforced phenolic composites 1. Study of the critical fibre length and the interfacial shear strengtli, Plast., Rubber Composites Proc. Appl, 23, 241 (1995). Termonia, Y., Structure-property relationships in short-fiber-reinforced composites, J. Polym. Set, Polym. Phys. Ed., 32, 969 (1994). 

Fluoroelastomers Novikova et al. [32] reported unproved physico-mechanical properties of fluoro mbbers by reinforcement with chopped polyamide fibers. Other fiber reinforcements are covered by Grinblat et al. [33]. Watson and Francis [34] described the use of aramid (Kevlar) as short fiber reinforcement for vulcanized fluoroelastomer along with polychloroprene mbber and a co-polyester TPE in terms of improvement in the wear properties of the composites. Rubber diaphragms, made up of fluorosilicone mbbers, can be reinforced using aramid fiber in order to impart better mechanical properties to the composite, though surface modification of the fiber is needed to improve the adhesion between fluorosUicone mbber and the fiber [35]. Bhattacharya et al. [36] studied the crack growth resistance of fluoroelastomer vulcanizates filled with Kevlar fiber. 

Fig. 8.6. Mode I potential energy release rate, GJ, plotted as a function of crack extension, Aa, for carbon fiber composites containing different matrices E (pure epoxy) ER (rubber-modified epoxy) ERF (short fiber-modified epoxy) ERP (rubber-and particle-modified epoxy). After Kim et al. (1992).

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