Natural fiber reinforced polymer composites: history, types, advantages and applications

Nowadays, the use of natural fiber reinforced polymer-based composites is gradually increasing day by day for their many advantages for civil engineering construction applications. Due to their many advantages for polymer-based composite materials are widely used in civil construction, automobiles, aerospace, and many others. Natural fibers such as jute, kenaf, pineapple, sugarcane, hemp, oil palm, flax, and leaf, etc. are cheap, environmentally friendly, renewable, completely and partially biodegradable which can be utilized to obtain new high-performance polymer materials. These composites are having satisfactory mechanical properties (i.e. tensile properties, flexural stress-strain behavior, fracture toughness, and fracture strength) which make them more attractive than other composites. Due to easy availability and renewability, natural fibers can be used as an alternative of synthetic fibers as a reinforcing agent. The aim of this paper is to review different natural fibers reinforced based polymer composites with mechanical characterization, applications, also shows the opportunities, challenges and future demand of natural composite material towards civil applications.

A brief review on natural fiber used as a replacement of synthetic fiber in polymer composites

The use of composites in different sectors has become inevitable due to the enhancement in properties, reduction in the manufacturing cost and suitability to several applications. Among different classifications, polymeric composites are mainly focused on their use as structural components and the selection and composition of reinforcement play a vital role in determining the characteristics of the composite. Although composites are developed with man-made reinforcement in the beginning stage, in the present situation, natural reinforcements have proved excellent results in terms of properties. Hence, nowadays researches are mainly focused on the use of different natural fibers in different forms as reinforcements in polymeric composite. This work presents a brief overview on the properties of natural fiber and natural fiber reinforced composites which is an emerging area in polymer science. Interests in natural fiber is reasonable due to the advantages of these materials compared to others, such as synthetic fiber composites, including low environmental impact and low cost and support their potential to be used. Moreover, the disadvantage of the synthetic and fiber-glass as reinforcement, the use of natural fiber reinforced composite gained the attention of the young scientists, researchers, and engineers and are being exploited as a replacement for the conventional fiber such as glass, aramid, carbon etc. Natural fibers have been proven alternative to synthetic fiber in transportation such as automobiles, railway coaches and aerospace, military, building, packaging, consumer products and construction industries for ceiling paneling, partition boards etc. However, in development of these composites, some drawbacks have also emerged. In this paper, it has been tried to overview all of this together.

Investigation of the interaction of material of fuel cladding for WWER-1000 reactor with steam at a temperature of accident overheatings

The subject of this study is the oxidation of fuel rod cladding made of material Zr1Nb(0.1% O) in steam at temperatures in the range of 660℃ to 1200℃ with a surface in the initial state (after manufacturing - grinding) and after additional chemical etching. The changes in the microstructure of tubes due to the interaction with steam were investigated. A comparison was made between the oxidation rate of this material (weight gain) and the data on the oxidation of other alloys for nuclear power plants. The oxidation rate of Zr1Nb(0.1% O) is close to the oxidation rate of other zirconium alloys. It is shown that after chemical treatment of the surface of the samples there is a more even growth of oxide films, and they have a smaller thickness for the same time of exposure than after mechanical grinding. Surface treatment before oxidation also affects the change of microstructure of samples when heated to high temperatures.

Frumkin-melik-gaykazan model in the potentiodynamic and galvanodynamic regimes of functioning

The main purpose of this article is to study the behavior of a metallic electrode in the electrolyte which contains a surface-active substance with the property of adsorbtion-desorbtion, in the galvanodynamic and potentiodynamic rejimes. The study of the electrochemical behavior of a metallic electrode is carried out by operational impedance method, based on the Ohms low on the interaction between the Laplace-transformed expression of current, voltage and complex resistance (impedance). It is obtained the analytical expression of interface voltage-time dependence in a solution which contains a surface-active indifferent substance with the property of adsorbtion-desorbtion;also it is obtained the analytical expression of current density-time dependence which is passing through electrochemical cell in potentiodynamic regime of functioning of the Frumkin- Melik-Gaykazan model. It is established that the relation between the interface metallic electrode-indifferent electrolyte with property of adsorbtion-desorbtion voltage in the galvanodynamic rejime has the character of second order parabola;the relation between current density which is passing through a cell and time in potentiodynamic rejime of functioning in the Frumkin-Melik-Gaykazan model has exponential character.

Monitoring localized corrosion of Inconel 82 weld overlay on 304L SS weld by electrochemical noise

The manuscript presents the results from the electrochemical noise (EN) monitoring of Inconel 82 weld overlay on Type 304L stainless steel (SS) weld in 0.01M FeCl3. The microstructure of the weld overlay obtained from optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed an austenite structure, containing equiaxed dendrites and secondary phases at the interdendritic region. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) attached to SEM revealed the secondary phases to be Nb rich Laves phase. The electrochemical potential noise was monitored using a three identical electrode configuration. The acquired signals were detrended, and wavelet analysis was employed to encode useful information from the noise transients. Visual examination of the potential noise-time record contained distinct high amplitude transients typical of localized corrosion attack. The energy distribution plots (EDP) of the potential noise derived from wavelet analysis depicted maximum relative energy on D6-D8 crystals, which represent large time scale events such as those occurring from localized attacks. Also, repassivation events too could be divulged from the potential EDP. The micrographs of the post electrochemical noise experimented specimens revealed the occurrence of localized attacks along the interdendritic region and none inside the dendritic cores. The presence of secondary phases along the interdendritic regions was found to be detrimental in chloride medium, imparting inferior localized corrosion resistance to the weld overlay.

Behaviour of the electrochemical intrgrator on the basis of solid electrolyte in galvanoharmonic charging mode

Behaviour of the Electrochemical integrator on the basis of Solid Electrolyte is studied in the galvanoharmonic charging mode. The possibility of application of simpler and more graphic calculation technigue and separation of impedance of electrochemical systems into active and reactive components is shown. The plotting of the dependences of the active and reactive impedance components on ac freguency was used to find the values of parameters of the studied equivalent electric cuircuits.

Mechanical, thermal and interfacial properties of Carbon-Kevlar reinforced epoxy composite

Twill woven Carbon-Kevlar (CK) fabric was reinforced in epoxy matrix by conventional hand lay-up process. The fabric weight fraction in the composites was kept around 58% and stacking sequence was varied from single to five plies. Tensile test was performed and the fracture surface after tensile test was evaluated by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The test result revealed that the tensile properties are strongly dependent on the number of plies. Three point flexural test of the composite was also carried and an increasing trend was observed. Maximum impact energy was recorded for CK3 sample by 202.7 KJ/m2. Thermal stability of the composite was studied via the thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) result show interaction between fiber and matrix material. Finally, CK fabric reinforced epoxy-based composites showed balanced and tailor-able mechanical properties by varying the number of plies, suitable for desired applications in many areas including building, construction, marine, automotive etc.

A study on the deformation and crushing of copper tubing: experiments, theory & FE modelling

A series of 250 mm lengths of copper tubing, of 15 mm outer diameter and 0.7 mm wall thickness, were studied to determine their deformation if they were pinched or crushed between rigid objects applying a given force, to replicate potential accidental damage suffered by the copper pipes during service. A finite element modelling framework was developed to simulate the crushing of a copper pipe the same dimensions as that used for experiments, and the experimental data allowed for a validation of the pipe crushing at approximately room temperature, to consider copper pipe carrying cold water. The FE modelling activity was then extended to consider the deformation of copper pipe at 80℃, carrying heated water at this temperature. The modelling agreed reasonably well with experiment, and applied forces of 1.5 kN began to deform the cold pipe, with the pipe collapsing on itself at loads of 6 kN. The heated pipe began to deform at roughly 1.25 kN. Lastly, theoretical flow calculations were performed to determine the Reynolds value, the flow velocity and the pressure loss and head loss per unit length of the deformed pipes, according to classical pipe flow calculation methods.

Elastic modulus prediction for hybrid polymer composites

To improve on the mechanical properties of polymers in general, the concept of hybrid composites was developed by using two or more different reinforcements in the same matrix, or by using two or more different sizes of the same reinforcement (auto-hybrid composites). In this case, most of the literature results showed that the resulting elastic modulus can be well approximated by the simple rule of mixture (linear additive law) from the tensile modulus of each reinforcement used alone. But is some cases, a positive deviation from this linear approximation was reported up to a point where an optimum composition can give a modulus above the value of both reinforcements used separately. In this work, a simple model is presented to show that positive deviations are possible and the optimum reinforcement ratio is around 25/75 in terms of the lowest/highest reinforcing particle. The model is also compared with literature data where good qualitative agreements are obtained as a first approximation.

One-step synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles using simple chemical technique

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2) have been extensively investigated because of its high chemical sustainability, optic properties, and adaptation to the environment. These studies include applications in heterogeneous catalysts, solar cells, coating technology, and electrical devices. TiO2 particles in the nanometer scale can remove limitations, such as the absorbance of organic materials, because of a high surface area to volume ratio. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles, were synthesized using a simple wet chemical method. Their physico-chemical properties were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. The TEM results showed that the mean size of assynthesized TiO2 was 5 nm with high crystalline anatase phase. The SEM observations revealed that the size of nanoparticles increased with annealing temperature and the morphology of the particles changed to the spherical shape. The crystal structure of the nanoparticles before and after annealing was done by XRD analysis. The rutile phase was formed after heat treatment at 600oC for 3 hours.

Synthesis and characterisation of Al2O3 nanoparticles as catalyst prepared by polymer co-precipitation method

Alumina (Al2O3) is a very interesting material with broad applicability as a support for various catalytically active phases and ceramic materials. Aluminium oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles were synthesized by aluminium chloride hexahydrate as precursor and polyvinylpyrrolydon (PVP) as surfactant and polymer agent. The samples were characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), field effect scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). XRD pattern exhibited gamma-Al2O3 to alpha-Al2O3 structural phase transition in the samples. The mean diameter of sphere-like as-prepared nanoparticles was around 26 nm and mean diameter of annealed sample was around 10 nm as estimated by XRD technique and direct HRTEM observation. The surface morphological studies from SEM depicted the size of alumina decreases with increasing annealing temperature. The effect of PVP surfactant on the morphology of the alumina nanoparticles has been investigated. EDS showed peaks of aluminium and oxygen in prepared Al2O3.

Chemical stability and thermodynamics of new Zr2-based heusler alloys

We present the spin polarized calculations on the new Zr2NiX (X = Al, Ga) alloys. Band structure analysis present them as half-metallic compounds with integral spin magnetic moment of 3 B following the general Slater-Pauling rule. Thermal effects on some macroscopic properties using quasi-harmonic Debye model which considers the phononic effects, the effects of pressure and temperature are taken into account. The variations of the thermal expansion coefficient, Debye temperature, Gruneisen parameter and heat capacity for the compounds have been investigated for the first time. These thermodynamic properties may prove as a reference for their synthesis.