Effect of Chemical Treatment of Flax Fiber and Resin Manipulation on Service Life of Their Composites Using Time-Temperature Superposition

Polymers

Ali Amiri¹  Chad A. Ulven¹  Shanshan Huo²  Alper Ilki³ 

[1] Department of Mechanical Engineering, North Dakota State University, PO Box 6050, Department 2490, Fargo, ND 58108, USA;Canadian Light Source Inc., 44 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK S7N 2V3, Canada;;Department of Mechanical Engineering, North Dakota State University, PO Box 6050, Department 2490, Fargo, ND 58108, USA

关键词: alkaline treatment;    bio-based composites;    creep;    flax;    resin treatment;    time-temperature superposition;    vinyl ester;   

DOI  :  10.3390/polym7101493

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the usage of natural fiber reinforced composites in more advanced structural applications. As a result, the need for improving their mechanical properties, as well as service life modeling and predictions have arisen. In this study effect of alkaline treatment of flax fiber as well as addition of 1% acrylic resin to vinyl ester on mechanical properties and long-term creep behavior of flax/vinyl ester composites was investigated. To perform the alkaline treatment, fibers were immersed into 1500 mL of 10 g/L sodium hydroxide/ethanol solution at 78 °C for 2 h. Findings revealed that alkaline treatment was successful in increasing interlaminar shear, tensile and flexural strength of the composite but decreased the tensile and flexural modulus by 10%. Addition of acrylic resin to the vinyl ester resin improved all mechanical properties except the flexural modulus which was decreased by 5%. In order to evaluate the long-term behavior, creep compliance master curves were generated using the time-temperature superposition principle. Results suggests that fiber and matrix treatments delay the creep response and slows the process of creep in flax/vinyl ester composites in the steady state region, respectively.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.