Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete Rebound Optimization

Glass fibre reinforced concrete placement technique generates losses due to rebound effects of the already sprayed concrete particles.Rebounded concrete amount cause a significant difference between the initial mix design and emplaced mix compositions.Apart from the structural differences,it comes with a cost increase which was resulted by the splashed concrete amount.Many factors such as viscosity and quantity of mixes dominate this rebound amount in sprayed glass fibre reinforced concrete applications depending on production technologies and processes;however,this research focuses on the spray distance and the angle of the spray gun which mainly effects the rebound amount in glass fibre reinforced concrete production.This paper aims to understand the required angle and distance for glass fibre reinforced concrete mixes having on-site plastic viscosity values.Glass fibre reinforced mixtures were also modelled with a finite element method based software and,the analysis results were compared with production line results.Results of the analysis and on-site studies showed a decisive correlation between,discharge distance,discharge angle and the viscosity of the concrete.

Analysis of Mechanical Properties of Injection Molded Short Glass Fibre (SGF)/Calcite/ABS Composites

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-Styrene (ABS), with and without calcium carbonate (calcite) particles,was used as the matrix for reinforcement with as-received short-glass fibres (were originallytreated by the manufacturer) and sized short-glass fibres with two amino-silane coupling agents.The calcite particle content is 0, 11.7 and 23.5 vol. pct for the matrices. The glass fiber contentis 0, 10 and 15 vol. pct. The matrix materials and corresponding composites were compoundedusing a twin screw extruder and dumbbell-shaped tensile bars were prepared with an injectionmolding process. The tensile and flexural properties as well as the unnotched and notchedCharpy impact energies of short glass fibre/calcite/ABS composites were studied in this paper.The effects of fibres, fibre surface treatments and particles on these mechanical properties ofthe composites were discussed in detail. An importarit information was obtained, which is thatthe tensile and flexural strengths of hybrid SGF/calcite/ABS composites are the same as thoseof corresponding fibre composites when the ratio of the interfacial adhesion strength betweenparticles and matrix to that between fibres and matrix is higher than certain value. otherwise theformer are lower than the latter.

The Influence of Additions in the Use of Glass Fibre Reinforced Cement as a Construction Material

Although in recent years glass fibre reinforced cement (GRC) has been used in buildings and infrastructure, its application in structural elements has been somewhat restricted due to the worsening of its mechanical properties with ageing and the limited data available related with its fracture energy. With the aim of developing existing knowledge of GRC, the fracture energy in an in-plane and out-of-plane direction of the panel has been obtained. Three types of GRC with different formulations have been tested. The results showed that the fracture energy of a GRC with a 25% addition of a pozzolanic admixture is 40% and 8% higher than a standard GRC in, respectively, in-plane and out-of-plane directions. Similarly, an addition of 25% of thermal-treated kaolin to a standard GRC increases its fracture energy up to 490% and 400%, to the corresponding orientation. The use of digital image correlation (DIC) in the fracture test analysis has permitted a description of the damaging patterns and explanation of the behaviours identified in the fracture tests performed. The multi-cracking process that appears explains the higher fracture energy found in the GRC with an addition of 25% of the aforementioned thermal-treated kaolin. The analysis performed by means of DIC and the results obtained showed GRC with an addition of 25% of thermal-treated kaolin to be the most suitable formulation for possible future structural applications with a short life span in horizontal and vertical elements.

Influence of an Optimized Fibre Coating on Interfacial and Mechanical Properties of Glass Fibre/Polypropylene Composites

The influence of pretreatment of fibre on interfacial and mechanical properties of glass fibre/ polypropylene composites was investigated. Firstly, the glass fibres were coated with the blends of m-IPP (maleic anhydride grafting isotatic polypropylene ) and m-APP ( maleic anhydride grafting amorphous polypropylene) in different, ratios. Secondly, the interfaced reaction of the coated composites was analysed by FTIR, which shows that the interfacial chemical reaction between m-IPP/m-APP in the fibre coating and the fibre surface- bound coupling agent is in existence. Thirdly, the microstructure of the coated composites wax studied by SEM. The results indicate that the coating treatment is effective on improving interfacial adhesion of the, fibre-matrix and the right amount of m-APP added to the coal impels the plastic deformation surrounding the point of cracks , which makes cracks turn to region and prevents from further interface debonding. Lastly, the mechanical properties were evaluated by measurement, of the flexural strength and impact strength of the composites. It was found that, the flexural strength and impact strength of the composites with coating fibre are higher than those of uncoating fibre composite. The results of these investigations draw the conclusion that the pretreatment of fibre with m-IPP/m-APP blends can form an optimize interlayer between the fibre and the PP matrix, which improves both the strength and lough-ness of the composites.

Effects of γ-Ray Irradiation on the Fatigue Strength, Thermal Conductivities and Thermal Stabilities of the Glass Fibres/Epoxy Resins Composites

Glass fibres/epoxy resins composites have been performed as ideal materials to make support instruments for high-energy and nuclear physics experiments. The effects of the 3,-ray irradiation on the fatigue strength, thermal conductivities and thermal stabilities of the glass fibres/epoxy resins composites were investigated. And a two-parameter fatigue life model was established to predict the fatigue life of the composites. Results revealed that the y-ray irradiation could probably result in the degradation of epoxy resins, but hardly damage to the glass fibres. And the γ-ray irradiation treatment could significantly affect the fatigue strength of the composites at a low-cycle fatigue stage, but seldom influence at a high-cycle fatigue stage. Furthermore, the fabricated glass fibres/epoxy resins composites after the γ-ray irradiation still presented excellent fatigue strength, ideal thermal conductivities, remarkable dimensional and thermal stabilities, which can meet the actual requirements of normal operation for supporting instruments under high-energy and nuclear physics experiments.

Evaluating the Structural Integrity of Fibreglass for the Manufacture of Headgears

A composite material is made up of two phases, the matrix, and the reinforcing materials. The reinforcing material is embedded over matrix material. The reinforcing material works to make the matrix material harder. A fibreglass reinforced composite was developed using E-glass fibre reinforcement and epoxy resin matrix. The composites were produced using the hand lay-up technique with varying fibre percentage of 9%, 13% and 25% by weight percentage of fibreglass mat at orientations of 0°, 15°, 45°, and 90° chosen at random. A 13% by weight percentage of chopped mat was also developed for purpose of comparison. The fabricated composites were subjected to tensile test, flexural test, impact test, punch shear test and hardness test to ascertain the appropriate fibre contents and orientation that is optimum for the manufacture of headgears. Analysis of Variance was carried out to determine level of significance and percentage contribution of the parameters. The results show that both fibre orientation and percentage of fibre content reinforcement of have significant influence on the strength and fracture energy of the composite .The fibre orientation has a higher impact on the strength of the composite (79.74%) while the percentage of fibre reinforcement has a lesser impact on the tensile strength of the composite (20.26%). However, the fibre orientation has a lesser impact on the fracture energy of the composite (24.54%) while the percentage of fibre reinforcement has a higher impact on the fracture energy of the composite (75.46%) The result from this study shows that the increase in fibre content increases flexural strength and impact toughness of the fibreglass reinforced composite. A fibre orientation of 90° and fibre reinforcement of 25% wt. was determined to be optimally suitable for the manufacture of headgears.

Low velocity impact studies of E-glass/epoxy composite laminates at different thicknesses and temperatures

Low velocity impact experiments were carried out on E-glass/epoxy composite laminates having varying thicknesses at sub zero and elevated temperatures using hemi spherical steel impactor of 16 mm diameter with impact energies in the rage of 50-150 J.The performance of the laminates was assessed in terms of energy absorption,maximum displacement,peak force and failure behaviour.Results indicated that the effect of temperature on energy absorption of the laminate is negligible although the laminates are embrittling at sub zero temperatures.However it has influence on failure behaviour and displacement.Peak force has increased linearly with increase in laminate thickness from 5 to 10 mm.However it got reduced by 25% when temperature was increased from-20℃ to 100℃,Based on experimental results,laminate perforation energies were predicted using curve fitting equations.Statistical analysis was carried out using Taguchi method to identify the global effects of various parameters on laminate performance and confirmed that the laminate thickness has significant influence as compared to temperature,for the studied range.

A STUDY OF TESTS ON GLASS FIBER RESIN FRICTION MATERIALS

The relationships between the microstructure, the composition, the friction temperature and the form of a new kind of friction material which is a glass fibre resin friction materials (GFRF) are studied through a series of tests on machine as EPMA, STM, DTG-DTA,an optical microscope and a friction test machine. The tests show that the rising rate in temperature and the heat conductivity of GFRF are lower than that of asbestos friction material. In GFRF, the heat-decline is slowed down or even eliminated. the distribution of heat- stress is improved and the life span is extended. Raising the temperature of resin resolution and enhancing the stickness between resin and glass fibre are the two important procedures to improve the friction and wear performance of GFRF.A discription about the friction and wear mechanism of GFRF is given in this paper.

Power scaling on tellurite glass Raman fibre lasers for mid-infrared applications

The power scaling on mid-infrared Raman fibre lasers(RFLs) is in demand for applications in health, environment and security. In this paper, we present the simulated laser behaviours of the tellurite glass RFLs pumped by 300-W Tm-doped fibre lasers(TDFLs) at 2 μm for the first time. By combining the advantages of the TDFLs and tellurite fibre, the output power at 2.35 μm has reached over hundreds of watts by first-order Raman shift. Moreover, the cascaded RFLs have been demonstrated with a wavelength extension greater than 3 μm and output power of tens of watts. To maximize the output power and the slope efficiency of the RFLs, we further analyse the interaction between the Raman gain and cavity loss, which are determined by fibre length and output reflectance of the laser cavity.

Thermal Effects on Bond Properties of GFRP Rebars Embedded in Concrete

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the thermal effects on glass fibre reinforced polymer （GFRP） bars embedded in concrete. The pullout test specimens were subjected to temperatures of 40℃, 60℃ and 80℃ during a continuous four months-period of time. The results were compared to the reference specimens （room temperature）. It was found that up to 60℃, the loss in bond strength due to the temperature is not significant, whereas for the 80℃-temperature a reduction of 14% in the bond strength is observed. Also, the bond-slip relationship was modelled using the CMR-model and new coefficients are proposed for the bond-slip behaviour of GFRP bars.

An Automated Ultrasonic NDT System for In-Situ Inspection of Wind Turbine Blades

It is crucial to maintain wind turbine blades regularly, due to the high stress leading to defects or damage. Conventional methods require shipping the blades to a workshop for off-site inspection, which is extremely time-consuming and very costly. This work investigates the use of pulse-echo ultrasound to detect internal damages in wind turbine blades without the necessity to ship the blades off-site. A prototype 2D ultrasonic NDT （non-destructive testing） system has been developed and optimised for in-situ wind turbine blade inspection. The system is designed to be light weight so it can be easily carried by an inspector onto the wind turbine blade for in-situ inspection. It can be operated in 1D A-scan, 2D C-scan or 3D volume scan. A software system has been developed to control the automated scanning and show the damage areas in a 2D/3D map with different colours so that the inspector can easily identify the defective areas. Experiments on GFRP （glass fibre reinforced plastics） and wind turbine blades （made of GFRP） samples showed that internal defects can be detected. The main advantages of this system are fully automated 2D spatial scanning and the ability to alert the user to the damage of the inspected sample. It is intended to be used for in-situ inspection to save maintenance time and hence considered to be economically beneficial for the wind energy industry.

Study on Strengthening of RC Beam Column Joint Using Hybrid FRP Composites

Beam-Column joints are critical zones in reinforced concrete structures which are most vulnerable to earthquake forces. Hence strengthening beam-column joint is vital to save the structure and its inhabitants in case of seismic forces. Numerous retrofitting works using fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are being undertaken worldwide. This work aims to investigate the effectiveness of strengthening beam-column joints using natural and artificial fibres. In this study, basalt (natural fibres) as monolithic composite (BFRP) and as hybrid composite along with glass (artificial fibres) were used for strengthening of beam-column joints. Totally six specimens were prepared and tested under monotonic loading. Specimen details used were: two control specimen, two specimens for monolithic wrapping and remaining two specimens for hybrid wrapping. The test results were compared with control and rehabilitated specimens. The performance of the treated joints was studied using the following parameters: initial and ultimate cracking loads, energy absorption, deflection ductility and stiffness at ultimate. From the test results, it was found that the hybrid combination of Basalt and Glass FRPs were found to be more effective in the treatment of beam-column joints. The strong column weak beam concept was achieved by failure in beam portion which helped in preventing the catastrophic failure of the entire structure.

High-Velocity Impact Studies on Scaled Leading Edges of Horizontal Tail with Smart Composite Layers

Bird strike studies on typical aluminium leading edges of the Horizontal Tail (HT) with and without Glass Fibre Shape Memory Polymer (GF-SMP) layers are carried out. A one-fifth scaled model of HT is designed and fabricated. The parameters like bird dimension and energy requirements are accordingly scaled to conduct the bird strike tests. Two leading-edge components have been prepared, namely one with AL 2024-T3 aluminium alloy and the other specimen of the same dimension and material, additionally having GF-SMP composite layers inside the metallic leading edge, in order to enhance its impact resistance. Bird strike experiments are performed on both the specimens, impacting at the centre of the leading edge in the nose tip region with an impact velocity of 115 m/s. The test component is instrumented with linear post-yield strain gauges on the top side and the PZT sensors on the bottom. Furthermore, the impact scenario is monitored using a high-speed camera at 7000 fps. The bird strike event is simulated by an equation of state model, in which the mass of the bird is idealized using smooth particle hydrodynamics element in PAMCRASH? explicit solver. The strain magnitude and its pattern including time duration are found to be in a good correlation between test and simulation. Key metrics are evaluated to devise an SHM scheme for the load and impact event monitoring using strain gauges and PZT sensors. GF-SMP layers have improved the impact resistance of the aluminium leading edge which is certainly encouraging towards finding a novel solution for the high-velocity impact.

Degradation Behavior of Epoxy Resins in Fibre Metal Laminates Under Thermal Conditions

GLARE （glass fibre/epoxy reinforced aluminum laminate） is a member of the fiber metal laminate （FML） family, and is built up of alternating metal and fiber layers. About 500 m2 GLARE is employed in each Airbus A380 because of the superior mechanical properties over the monolithic Muminum alloys, such as weight reduction, improved damage tolerance and higher ultimate tensile strength. Many tons of new GLARE scraps have been accumulated during the Airbus A380 manufacturing. Moreover, with the increasing plane orders of Airbus A380, more and more end-of-life （EOL） GLARE scrap will be generated after retire of planes within forty years. Thermal processing is a potential method for the material recycling and re-use from GLARE with the aim of environmental protection and economic benefits. The current study indicatdes that thermal delamination is a crucial pre-treatment step for the GLARE recycling. The decomposition behavior of the epoxy resins at elevated temperatures was investigated by using the simultaneous thermal analysis, thermogravimetry analysis （TGA） and differential scanning calorimetry （DSC）. Based on the thermal analysis results, GLARE thermal delamination experiments at refined temperatures were carried out to optimize the treatment temperature and holding time.

Influence of additives on strength enhancement and greenhouse gas emissions of pre-cast lime-based construction products

Strength properties of laboratory scale lime-based samples enhanced with additives such as nanomaterials(nanofibrillated cellulose,nanosilica,nanoclay,expanded graphite),hemp&glass fibres,hemp shiv and polyvinyl acetate(PVAc)are determined.Samples were cured for 26 days in air at 20℃/60%RH after casting before being oven dried for a further two days at 50℃(28 days total).Results show that the nanomaterials on their own had a mixed effect on the strength although nSiO_(2) as a solo additive performed exceptionally well.The combination of fibres in conjunction with PVAc also greatly enhanced the strength due to increased bond between the fibres and the matrix.In addition,Greenhouse Gas emissions(GHG,kgCO_(2)eq)of an arbitrary block was determined for all composites and compared to the GHG of a commonly used lightweight aerated concrete block.Comparison of the normalised compressive strengths to the different loading conditions as outlined in BS EN 8103 shows that a more widespread use of pre-cast lime composites is possible and without unduly increasing GHG emissions.