Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Several High-Performance Single Fibers

High-performance fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs) are widely used in bulletproof structures, in which the mechanical properties of the single fibers play a crucial role in ballistic resistance. In this paper, the quasi-static and dynamic mechanical properties of three commonly used fibers, single aramid III, polyimide (PI), and poly-p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole (PBO) fibers are measured by a small-scale tensile testing machine and mini-split Hopkinson tension bar (mini-SHTB), respectively. The results show that the PBO fiber is superior to the other two fibers in terms of strength and elongation. Both the PBO and aramid III fibers exhibit an obvious strain-rate strengthening effect, while the tensile strength of the PI fiber increases initially, then decreases with the increase in strain rate. In addition, the PBO and aramid III fibers show ductile-to-brittle transition with increasing strain rate, and the PI fiber possesses plasticity in the employed strain rate range. Under a high strain rate, a noticeable radial splitting and fibrillation is observed for the PBO fiber, which can explain the strain-rate strengthening effect. Moreover, the large dispersion of the strength at the same strain rate is observed for all the single fibers, and it increases with increasing strain rate, which can be ascribed to the defects in the fibers. Considering the effect of strain rate, only the PBO fiber follows the Weibull distribution, suggesting that the hypothesis of Weibull distribution for single fibers needs to be revisited.

Flexural and Tribological Properties of Polyimide Composites Reinforced by Poly-p-Phenylenebenzobisoxazole Fibers with Different Content

In this paper, the tribological property of polyimide (PI) resin was improved by adding poly-p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole (PBO) fibers. The effects of PBO fiber volume fraction were studied by mechanics and tribology tests. The fracture and wear surfaces of PBO/PI composites were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The measurement showed that the flexural properties of composites reinforced by 10 vol% PBO fibers were lower than pure PI resin. With the increase of PBO fiber content, the flexural strength was first increase and then decrease. The frictional coefficient and wear rate of the PBO/PI composites varied with the variety of fiber content, and the optimum parameter was obtained at 20 vol%. The dominant wear mechanism and friction process were discussed on the basis of microscopic morphology analysis of wear surface of PBO/PI composite and the counterpart.

Evaluation of the alkali and oxidation resistance of PBO fibers

Poly( p-phenylene benzobisoxazole) (PBO) fiber, well-known for its super high strength, is a novel fiber with excellent heat resistance and flame retardancy. However, chemical stability appears to be one of its few weaknesses. In this study, PBO fibers were treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium permanganate (KMnO4) solutions under various conditions. Scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, tensile testing, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis were employed to characterize the variations of its structure and properties. The results show that many longitudinal corrosion grooves appeared on the surface of PBO fibers treated with KMnO4, while only subtle microcracks occurred after treatment with NaOH. The breaking tenacity of the fiber decreased from 38.13 cN dtex−1 to 2.76 cN dtex−1 after treatment with KMnO4 for 6 h, while it remained at a higher level (27.67cN dtex−1) when treated with NaOH. After treatment with KMnO4 solution, a more obvious absorption peak appeared in the vicinity of 1448.3 cm−1, inferring an occurrence of chemical changes for oxazole ring. Moreover, the remaining mass and initial degradation temperature are significantly improved, also indicating that the cyclic or cross-linked structure is rebuilt. Furthermore, the cyclization or cross-linking of macromolecules destroyed the highly ordered structure of PBO fibers, demonstrated by acromion melting peaks at low temperature in the DSC curves. However, the aggregation and chemical structures of PBO fibers have no obvious changes after treatment with NaOH.