The effect of simultaneous fiber surface treatment and matrix modification on mechanical properties of unidirectional ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber/epoxy/nanoclay nanocomposites

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (21) ◽  
pp. 2961-2972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Mohammadalipour ◽  
Mahmood Masoomi ◽  
Mojtaba Ahmadi ◽  
Zahra Kazemi

Nonpolar structure of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber leads to a weak interfacial adhesion in ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber reinforced epoxy composite. Herein, synchronized fiber and matrix modifications were utilized so as to improve the interfacial adhesion, resulting in promoting mechanical properties of these composites. For this purpose, the surface of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber was chemically treated with glycidyl methacrylate and the epoxy resin was modified through incorporation of different contents of nanoclay. The mechanical properties results showed that individual modification, either fiber or matrix, can just lead to improvements around 36.74% and 10.54% in tensile strength as well as 14.28% and 4.27% in tensile modulus, respectively. However, the ultimate outcome of the study revealed that much higher improvement can be achieved in synergistic attitude. The highest enhancement around 48.31% and 26.76% in tensile strength and modulus were seen for the sample containing glycidyl methacrylate-treated ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers as reinforcement and nano epoxy modified with 1 wt.% of nanoclay. Such observation could be attributed to the mechanical interlocking and chemical reaction which were arising from incorporation of nanoclay in matrix and chemical treatment of fiber surface, correspondingly. In this regard, fiber roughness and chemical bonds formed between treated fiber and modified matrix play a key role in improving interfacial adhesion. Moreover, the fractured surface of such composites studied by scanning electron microscope confirmed the mechanical results and showed that much more matrix was adhered to the fiber surface after treatment, indicating cohesive failure.

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 404
Author(s):  
Nur Sharmila Sharip ◽  
Hidayah Ariffin ◽  
Tengku Arisyah Tengku Yasim-Anuar ◽  
Yoshito Andou ◽  
Yuki Shirosaki ◽  
...  

The major hurdle in melt-processing of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) nanocomposite lies on the high melt viscosity of the UHMWPE, which may contribute to poor dispersion and distribution of the nanofiller. In this study, UHMWPE/cellulose nanofiber (UHMWPE/CNF) bionanocomposites were prepared by two different blending methods: (i) melt blending at 150 °C in a triple screw kneading extruder, and (ii) non-melt blending by ethanol mixing at room temperature. Results showed that melt-processing of UHMWPE without CNF (MB-UHMWPE/0) exhibited an increment in yield strength and Young’s modulus by 15% and 25%, respectively, compared to the Neat-UHMWPE. Tensile strength was however reduced by almost half. Ethanol mixed sample without CNF (EM-UHMWPE/0) on the other hand showed slight decrement in all mechanical properties tested. At 0.5% CNF inclusion, the mechanical properties of melt-blended bionanocomposites (MB-UHMWPE/0.5) were improved as compared to Neat-UHMWPE. It was also found that the yield strength, elongation at break, Young’s modulus, toughness and crystallinity of MB-UHMWPE/0.5 were higher by 28%, 61%, 47%, 45% and 11%, respectively, as compared to the ethanol mixing sample (EM-UHMWPE/0.5). Despite the reduction in tensile strength of MB-UHMWPE/0.5, the value i.e., 28.4 ± 1.0 MPa surpassed the minimum requirement of standard specification for fabricated UHMWPE in surgical implant application. Overall, melt-blending processing is more suitable for the preparation of UHMWPE/CNF bionanocomposites as exhibited by their characteristics presented herein. A better mechanical interlocking between UHMWPE and CNF at high temperature mixing with kneading was evident through FE-SEM observation, explains the higher mechanical properties of MB-UHMWPE/0.5 as compared to EM-UHMWPE/0.5.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 155892501601100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangting Han ◽  
Xiaowei Tao ◽  
Xianbo Li ◽  
Wei Jiang ◽  
Wenqian Zuo

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber (UHMWPE) exhibits outstanding strength to weight balance due to high molecular orientation, high crystallinity and low density. For these reasons, is widely used in applications demanding high strength high modulus fibers. This paper systematically studies the relationships between the mechanical properties of ropes made of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber and several attributes of the rope construction. By studying the structure of the rope, a formula relating the Young's modulus and twist angle was developed. It was found that the breaking strength and the elongation of the rope were closely related to the twist angle. Finally, the breaking strength of the rope had a positive correlation with the diameter of the rope. The retention rate of fatigue strength studied in this paper was kept above 100%. These results may provide useful guidance to the industrial production of the UHMWPE based ropes.


2013 ◽  
Vol 341 ◽  
pp. 169-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.M. Abdul-Kader ◽  
Y.A. El-Gendy ◽  
Awad A. Al-Rashdi ◽  
A.M. Salem

The effect of ion beam bombardment on the optical and mechanical properties of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) was investigated. UHMWPE polymer samples were bombarded with 150 keV N2ions under vacuum at room temperature to high fluences ranging from 1x1016to 2x1017ions cm-2. The untreated as well as treated samples were investigated by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer and Vickers micro-hardness techniques. The direct and indirect optical band gap decreased from 2.9 and 1.65 eV for pristine sample to 1.7 and 1 eV for those bombarded with N2ion beam at the highest fluence, respectively. With increasing ion fluence, an increase in the number of carbon atoms per conjugation length, N and number of carbon atoms per cluster, M in a formed cluster were observed. A significant improvement in surface hardness was obtained by increasing the ion fluence.


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