Volume shrinkages and mechanical properties of various fiber-reinforced hydroxyethyl methacrylate–polyurethane/unsaturated polyester composites

AbstractMechanical properties of fiber reinforcement that can be obtained by the introduction of basalt fibers in jute fiber-reinforced polyester composites have been analyzed experimentally. Basalt/jute fiber-reinforced hybrid polymer composites were fabricated with a varying fiber percentage by using compression molding techniques. The fabricated composite plates were subjected to mechanical testing to estimate tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength of the composites. The effect of fiber content on basalt/jute fiber in the composites has been studied. Addition of jute fiber into basalt fiber composite makes it a cost-effective one. Incorporation of basalt fiber into the composites was at approximately 10%, 20%, up to 90%, and the jute fiber percentage was reduced from 90%, 80%, to 10% correspondingly. Mechanical properties were investigated as per ASTM standards. Tensile and flexural strengths were tested by using a computer-assisted universal testing machine, and impact strength by using an Izod impact tester. It has been observed that the addition of jute fiber to the basalt fiber polyester composites enhanced the mechanical properties. Water absorption of hybrid composites was also analyzed and was found to be proportional to fiber percentage.

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Impacts of Molding Pressure on Performances of Kraft Fiber Reinforced Unsaturated Polyester Composites

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.183-185.2173 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 183-185 ◽

pp. 2173-2177 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Xin Ying Lv ◽

Die Ying Ma ◽

Yong Ming Song ◽

Zhen Hua Gao

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Creep Resistance ◽

Unsaturated Polyester ◽

Resin Content ◽

Molding Pressure ◽

The Novel ◽

Fiber Reinforced ◽

Low Viscosity ◽

Plastic Composite ◽

The Many

Novel Kraft fiber reinforced unsaturated polyester (UPE) composites were prepared at various molding pressures in order to investigate the effects of molding pressure on resin content, the mechanical properties and creep resistance. The results indicated that the novel composites had much higher mechanical properties and better creep resistances than traditional wood plastic composites because of the applications of strong Kraft fibers as reinforcement and thermosetting UPE as matrix. Molding pressure had various effects on the many properties of composites. With molding pressure increased from 6MPa to 25MPa, the mechanical properties and creep resistances increased gradually until about 20MPa and then decreased, which were attributed to the different interface adhesions between UPE resin and Kraft fibers at various molding pressures as evidenced by DMA analysis. Benefited from the use of low-viscosity UPE resin, the resin content of Kraft fiber reinforced UPE composites could reduce to 28.3% while strength and creep resistance were still much better than that of the thermoplastic wood-plastic composite (WPC) with 40% polymer matrix.

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