Comparative impact behaviours of ultra high performance concrete columns reinforced with polypropylene vs steel fibres

Polypropylene(PP) fibres have primarily used to control shrinkage cracks or mitigate explosive spalling in concrete structures exposed to fire or subjected to impact/blast loads, with limited investigations on capacity improvement. This study unveils the possibility of using PP micro-fibres to improve the impact behaviour of fibre-reinforced ultra-high-performance concrete(FRUHPC) columns. Results show that the addition of fibres significantly improves the impact behaviour of FRUHPC columns by shifting the failure mechanism from brittle shear to favourable flexural failure. The addition of steel or PP fibres affected the impact responses differently. Steel fibres considerably increased the peak impact force(up to 18%) while PP micro-fibres slightly increased the peak(3%-4%). FRUHPC significantly reduced the maximum midheight displacement by up to 30%(under 20°impact) and substantially improved the displacement recovery by up to 100%(under 20° impact). FRUHPC with steel fibres significantly improved the energy absorption while those with PP micro-fibres reduced the energy absorption, which is different from the effect of PP-macro fibre reported in the literature. The optimal fibre content for micro-PP fibres is 1% due to its minimal fibre usage and low peak and residual displacement. This study highlights the potential of FRUHPC as a promising material for impact-resistant structures by creating a more favourable flexural failure mechanism, enhancing ductility and toughness under impact loading, and advancing the understanding of the role of fibres in structural performance.

Can waste textiles be completely transformed into fibres?

The advancement and novel technologies in materials science have been steadily growing toward adopting ethical practices.To reduce the stress on the environment the producers integrate novel materials to extend traditional functionality.They develop modern fibers that are eco-friendly,light,resilient,mechanically flexible,and easy to process.Moreover,novel fabrics are acquiring unique properties such as sensory capabilities,electrical conductivity,and data transmission.Cloths with characteristics such as hydrophobic cotton,plant-based textiles,antimicrobial fabrics,and shape memory polymers show versatility in textile innovations.Overall,these textile innovations provide sustainable alternatives,which are commercially viable and suitable for large-scale production.

Mechanical Properties of Bio-Based Epoxy Composites Reinforced with Hybrid-Interlayer Ramie and Recycled Carbon Fibres

The growing environmental concerns have led to attention on bio-based composite materials, such as the natural fibres, recycled carbon fibres and bio-based resins. Herein, the bio-based epoxy composites were reinforced with ramie fibre (RF) and recycled carbon fibre (rCF) via inter-layer hybridisation. The dynamic mechanical analysis, tensile, flexural and impact properties characterisation were conducted to analyse the mechanical behaviour of the specimens. Also, the morphology of fractured surface after mechanical tests was studied under a scanning electron microscope. When the volume ratio between RF and rCF was varied from 100/0 to 0/100, the flexural and tensile strength of composites was significantly increased, while the impact strength was reduced. Thus the maximum values of flexural strength (182 MPa) and tensile strength (165 MPa) were observed for rCF reinforced composite, whilst impact strength of 24 kJ/m2 was found for RF reinforced composite. Furthermore, the values of storage and loss modulus were increased with the rCF incorporation due to a greater degree of restriction with the addition of rCF into the matrix. The hybridisation was able to combine the specific properties of RF and rCF and optimise the mechanical performance of composites. Therefore, the alternative low-cost green composites are prepared which can replace synthetic materials for semi-structural applications.

Fabrication of SiC fibres from yttrium-containing polycarbosilane

The yttrium as a sintering aid was introduced into polycarbosilane（PCS） to prepare yttrium-containing PCS（PYCS）.Two types of yttrium-containing SiC fibres,the SiC（OY） fibres and the SiC（Y） fibres,were fabricated with PYCS.The structural evolution and the associated properties on changing from SiC（OY） to SiC（Y） fibres during the sintering process were studied.The chemical composition of the SiC（OY） fibres is SiC1.53O0.22Y0.005 with an amorphous structure.The composition of SiC（Y） fibres is SiC1.23O0.05Y0.005.The fibres are composed of a large number of β-SiC crystallites with a size of 50 nm and a small amount of α-SiC crystalline.The tensile strength and fracture toughness of the SiC（OY） fibres are 2.25 GPa and 2.37 MPa·m1/2,respectively,and 1.61 GPa,1.91 MPa·m1/2,respectively for SiC（Y） fibres.The SiC（Y） fibres have a higher thermal stability than the SiC（OY） fibres.

Caustics study of the effect of glass fibres on dynamic fracture of hardened cement paste

The reflected optical caustics method is applied to study dynamic fracture problems in hardened cement paste. First both the unreinforced cement paste and the glass fibres reinforced cement paste specimens were fabricated and the reflective coating on the surface of the specimen was prepared. Secondly the crack path and the shadow spot patterns during the crack propagation process for the two specimens were recorded by using a multi-spark high speed camera.Thirdly some dynamic parameters of two cement paste specimens including crack onset time the dynamic stress intensity factor and crack growth velocity were determined and analyzed comparatively.This indicates that the glass fibres can improve the fracture resistance and delay fracture time.These results will play an important role in evaluating the dynamic fracture properties of cement paste.

Orientation distribution of fibres in a channel flow of fibre suspension

The orientation and concentration distributions of fibres in laminar and turbulent channel flows are investigated numerically. The obtained results are in good agreement with the experimental data. In the laminar flow regime, more fibres orient to the flow direction as the Reynolds number increases. The shear rate of fluid around a fibre plays an important role in determining the orientation distribution of fibres, while the fibre density and the fibre aspect-ratio have marginal influence on the orientation distribution. In the turbulent regime, the orientation distribution of fibres becomes more homogeneous with the increase of Reynolds number, and the concentration profile is flatter than that in the laminar regime. The fluctuating intensity of fibre velocity in the downstream direction is larger than that in the lateral directions.

Manufacturing Titanium Metal Matrix Composites by Consolidating Matrix Coated Fibres

Titanium metal matrix composites （TiMMCs） reinforced by continuous silicon carbide fibres are being developed for aerospace applications. TiMMCs manufactured by the consolidation of matrix-coated fibre （MCF） method offer optimum properties because of the resulting uniform fibre distribution, minimum fibre damage and fibre volume fraction control. In this paper, the consolidation of Ti-6Al-4V matrix-coated SiC fibres during vacuum hot pressing has been investigated. Experiments were carried out on multi-ply MCFs under vacuum hot pressing （VHP）. In contrast to most of existing studies, the fibre, arrangement has been carefully controlled either in square or hexagonal arrays throughout the consolidated sample. This has enabled the dynamic consolidation behaviour of MCFs to be demonstrated by eliminating the fibre re-arrangement during the VHP process. The microstructural evolution of the matrix coating was reported and the deformation mechanisms involved were discussed.

Widely tunable dual-pump parametric amplifiers with photonic crystal fibres

This paper theoretically studies the double-pumped fibre-optical parametric amplifiers （FOPAs） in photonic crystal fibres. Two distinct working regimes of FOPAs are researched, which depend on the dispersion at the central wavelength of the two pumps. Extremely broad tuning range can be obtained when the central pump wavelength is in the normal dispersion regime and is insensitive to the wavelength separation between the two pumps, while the tuning range is narrow in the anomalous dispersion regime and can be significantly enhanced by increasing the wavelength separation. Impacts of higher-order dispersions and temporal walk-off on the gain spectra are also discussed.

Theoretical investigation of band-gap and mode characteristics of anti-resonance guiding photonic crystal fibres

With the full-vector plane-wave method （FVPWM） and the full-vector beam propagation method （FVBPM）, the dependences of the band-gap and mode characteristics on material index and cladding structure parameter in anti- resonance guiding photonic crystal fibres （ARGPCFs） are sufficiently analysed. An ARGPCF operating in the near- infrared wavelength is shown. The influences of the high index cylinders, glass interstitial apexes and silica structure on the characteristics of band-gaps and modes are deeply investigated. The equivalent planar waveguide theory is used for analysing such an ARGPCF filled by the isotropic materials, and the resonance and the anti-resonance characteristics r：~n h~ w~｜] r^r~dlrtpd

Effect of Chemical Extraction on Physicochemical and Mechanical Properties of Doum Palm Fibres

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of chemical extraction method on the properties of doum palm fibres. The method of extraction which is carried out is a soda treatment. First, an investigation of the extraction processes was undertaken. Secondly, the physical properties (surface morphology, density, linear density and diameter), the mechanical properties (tenacity, strain) and chemical properties (FT-IR spectra) of doum palm fibres were inspected. Finally, a comparison between properties of doum palm fibres and other vegetal ones has been included. Results indicates an influence of soda treatment on properties of Doum palm fibers. In fact, there is an improvement on fibers diameter and linear density while increasing soda concentration, temperature and treatment duration. Moreover, the studied fibers have a low density which does not exceed 1. The fibers tenacity achieved the maximum value of 20.86 cN/Tex when precessing in the following combination (0.75 N, 100°C and 180 mn). In the end, the FTIR spectra reveals a change in structure after this alkali treatment while increasing the cellulose amount exposed on the fiber surface and consequently the number of possible reaction sites (OH groups).

Surface Treatments of Natural Fibres—A Review: Part 1

This review is based on the surface treatment of natural fibres which can be used in technical applications. Natural fibres on their own have some draw backs regarding moisture uptake, quality variations, low thermal stability, and poor wettability. Insufficient adhesion between polymer matrix and fibre leads in time to debonding. Overcoming the weaknesses of these natural fibres gave the motivation for this study where physical and chemical methods of modification were considered. Physical methods such as electric discharge and mercerization were reported as well as the chemical methods such as graft copolymerization and treatment with isocyanates, and the results due to these modifications were discussed. This study reveals that natural fibres are good candidates for reinforcement but they have to be suitably treated to improve their properties if they are to be used in technical applications. The various fibre surface treatments actually improve the interfacial adhesion between the fibre surface and the matrix, thereby giving good mechanical properties to the resulted polymer composites.

Thermomechanical Characterisation of Compressed Clay Bricks Reinforced by Thatch Fibres for the Optimal Use in Building

Thatch fibres grow in large quantity in the Adamawa region of Cameroon. During the long dry season, these fibres cause numerous fire incidents, which not only devastate large areas of cash crops, but also contribute to increase emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This article aims to show how fibres could be used with compressed clay bricks to manufacture an insulating material used in building. Four fibre contents 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% made up the sample studied. The asymmetric hot plate methodology was used to determine the thermophysical properties of these composite materials. The volumetric heat capacity and the thermal effusivity of these materials were estimated. These two parametres were used to determine their apparent thermal conductivities. The results obtained show that the thermal conductivity decreases as the volume of fibres in the mixture increases. It is 0.689 W·m-1·K-1 for simple compressed clay bricks and 0.510 W·m-1·K-1 for a dosage at 3% of thatch fibres. In a bit to validate the results of the pilot study of the apparent thermal conductivity, the heat mass capacity of this composite material was achieved through the use of the dehydration method. The relative difference obtained with the results of the volumetric heat capacity carried out with these two methods was good. All results showed that the use of fibres in compressed laterite brick gives a more insulating composite material that respects Civil Engineering Norms.

Compressive and Flexural Strengths of Cement Stabilized Earth Bricks Reinforced with Treated and Untreated Pineapple Leaves Fibres

This study compares the effect of treated pineapple leaves fibres (T-PALF) with sodium hydroxide solution and untreated fibres (N-PALF) on the compressive and flexural strength of earth bricks stabilized with 3% and 5% cement. The fibre content ranged from 0% to 5% in steps of 1% by weight. The compressive strength tests were made at 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of curing;the flexural strength test were conducted at 28th day only. The results show that the T-PALF had a higher compressive strength when comparing to the N-PALF. The highest compressive strength of the bricks was obtained at 28 days of curing. The compressive strength at 28 days of stabilized brick at 3% and 5% of cement reinforced with T-PALF were 4.01 and 4.81 MPa, respectively, while the one reinforced with N-PALF was 3.19 and 4.63 MPa, respectively. The results further show that the highest flexural strength of both stabilized bricks at 3% and 5% of cement reinforced with T-PALF and N-PALF was obtained with the bricks stabilized with 5% of cement reinforced with T-PALF. This results show that bricks stabilized with 5% cement and reinforced with 3% of treated fibres content are good for construction of load bearing walls. It was observed;a significant improvement of the reinforced blocks under flexure than under compression.

The Effect of Inorganic Nanoadditives on the Thermal, Mechanical and UV Radiation Barrier Properties of Polypropylene Fibres

The objective of this study of modified polypropylene (PP) fibres using nanoadditives (nano-CaCO3 and Cloisite 30B) was to determine the influence of these additives on thermal and mechanical properties, but especially on the barrier properties of the nanocomposite fibres against UV radiation. The DSC data obtained from measurements of PP/CaCO3 or PP/C30B nanocomposite fibres were used for determination of the constants n and K of the Avrami equation and in the estimation of other thermal properties of the fibres, such as their crystallization half-time t1/2, rate of crystallization t1/2, the necessary time for maximum crystallization tmax and free energy per unit area of surface in the lamella perpen-dicular to the axis of a high-molecular chain se. The nano-CaCO3 or Closite 30B fillers (pre-treated separately in three different solvents: glycerine, acetone and water) did not influence the melting temperatures but caused an increase in PP crystallization temperatures in comparison with the pure PP fibres. The pre-treatments of nanoadditives resulted in increase of n, K, t1/2 values and decrease of t1/2, tmax as well as the values of free surface energies per unit area of the modified PP fibres. There was also observed a decrease in the mechanical properties, however, there was an increase of barrier properties against UV radiation of nanocomposite PP fibres in comparison with neat PP fibres, which was one of the main objectives of the study.

Fracture Properties of Cement Composites Reinforced with Steel Polypropylene Hybrid Fibres

Polypropylene fibres and three sizes of steel fibres reinforced concrete are discussed. The total fibres content ranges from 0 4%-0 95% by volume of concrete. A four point bending test is adopted on the notched prisms with the size of 100?mm×100?mm×500?mm to investigate the effect of hybrid fibres on crack arresting. The research results show that there is a positive synergy effect between large steel fibres and polypropylene fibres on the load bearing capacity in the small displacement range. But this synergy effect disappears in the large displacement range. The large and strong steel fibre is better than soft polypropylene fibre and small steel fibre in the aspect of energy absorption capacity in the large displacement range. The static usage limitation for the hybrid fibres concrete with “wide peak' or “multi peaks' load CMOD pattern should be carefully selected. The ultimate load bearing capacity and the crack width or CMOD at this load level should be jointly considered.

Interfacial microstructure and chemical stability during diffusion bonding of single crystal Al_2O_3-fibres with Ni25.8Al9.6Ta8.3Cr matrix

BN coated A1203 fibre-reinforced NiAl-alloy composites were fabricated by hot pressing at 1 200-1 400 ℃, and the interracial microstructure and chemical stability of BN coated Al2O3 fibre-reinforced NiAl-alloy composites were investigated by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and analytical transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. It was found that the complicated chemical reactions and diffusion processes happened in the interface area between BN-layer and Ni25.8A19.6Ta8.3 during the hot pressing at 1 200-1 400 ℃. A continuous AlN-layer was formed at the interface due to the reaction between NiAl and BN. At the same time, Cr diffused extensively into the BN-layer and reacted with boron to form Cr boride precipitates （CrsB3）. In addition, a few particles of Ta-rich phase were also precipitated in NiAl matrix near the interface.

High birefringence,low loss terahertz photonic crystal fibres with zero dispersion at 0.3 THz

A terahertz photonic crystal fibre （THz-PCF） is designed for terahertz wave propagation. The dispersion prop- erty and model birefringence are studied by employing the finite element method. The simulation result reveals the changing patten of dispersion parameter versus the geometry. The influence of the large frequency band of terahertz on birefringence is also discussed. The design of low loss, high birefringence THz-PCFs with zero dispersion frequency at 0.3 THz is presented.

Effect of structure random disturbances on characterizations of microstructured optical fibres

A method is presented to analyse the effect of structure random disturbances on the confinement loss and the chromatic dispersion characterizations of microstructured optical fibres, which combines multipole methods with the random statistics process. Some useful results to the fabrication of microstructured optical fibres have been obtained.

30th International Man-made Fibress Congress in Dornbirn / Austria, 12th-14th June 1991

The International Man-made Fibres Congress in Dornbirn attracts every year 7-800 textileexperts from 30-35 nations.The contents include:30 years Man-made Fibres Congress in Dornbirn——a Rich Anniversary Programme 12th-14th June

Improved high birefringence photonic crystal fibres with dispersion flattened and single mode operation

A kind of improved high birefringence photonic crystal fibre （PCF） is proposed in this paper. The characteristics of birefringence, dispersion and leakage loss are studied by the multipole method. Numerical results show that the improved PCF possesses the properties of a flat dispersion and single mode operation. Moreover, with the operating wavelength λ = 1.55/zm, the modal birefringence increases greatly in comparison with that of the original PCF, and the leakage loss is about 104 times smaller than that of the original PCF because the modification gives rise to the strong confinement of guided modes. It is expected that the improved PCF can be used as high birefringence and dispersion flattened fibres.