Green Composite Material Made from Typha latifolia Fibres Bonded with an Epoxidized Linseed Oil/Tall Oil-Based Polyamide Binder System

Here,we report the mechanical and water sorption properties of a green composite based on Typha latifolia fibres.The composite was prepared either completely binder-less or bonded with 10%(w/w)of a bio-based resin which was a mixture of an epoxidized linseed oil and a tall-oil based polyamide.The flexural modulus of elasticity,the flexural strength and the water absorption of hot pressed Typha panels were measured and the influence of pressing time and panel density on these properties was investigated.The cure kinetics of the biobased resin was analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC)in combination with the iso-conversional kinetic analysis method of Vyazovkin to derive the curing conditions required for achieving completely cured resin.For the binderless Typha panels the best technological properties were achieved for panels with high density.By adding 10%of the binder resin the flexural strength and especially the water absorption were improved significantly.

Droplet-based bioprinting enables the fabrication of cell–hydrogel–microfibre composite tissue precursors

Composites offer the option of coupling the individual benefits of their constituents to achieve unique material properties,which can be of extra value in many tissue engineering applications.Strategies combining hydrogelswith fibre-based scaffolds can create tissue constructs with enhanced biological and structural functionality.However,developing efficient and scalable approaches to manufacture such composites is challenging.Here,we use a droplet-based bioprinting system called reactive jet impingement(ReJI)to integrate a cell-laden hydrogel with a microfibrous mesh.This system uses microvalves connected to different bioink reservoirs and directed to continuously jet bioink droplets at one another in mid-air,where the droplets react and form a hydrogel that lands on a microfibrous mesh.Cell–hydrogel–fibre composites are produced by embedding human dermal fibroblasts at two different concentrations(5×10^(6) and 30×10^(6) cells/mL)in a collagen–alginate–fibrin hydrogel matrix and bioprinted onto a fibre-based substrate.Our results show that both types of cell–hydrogel–microfibre composite maintain high cell viability and promote cell–cell and cell–biomaterial interactions.The lower fibroblast density triggers cell proliferation,whereas the higher fibroblast density facilitates faster cellular organisation and infiltration into the microfibres.Additionally,the fibrous component of the composite is characterised by high swelling properties and the quick release of calcium ions.The data indicate that the created composite constructs offer an efficient way to create highly functional tissue precursors for laminar tissue engineering,particularly for wound healing and skin tissue engineering applications.

POST- MICROBUCKLING OF FIBRE BRIDGING KINK BANDS UNDER COMPRESSION

Surface originated kink bands consist of an important failure mode for fibre-reinforced compo- sites under compression. The mechanical behavior of the fibre bridging kink bands is explored herein in the context of the post-microbuckling theory. Expressions of bridging force are obtained for the entire postbuckling process of the fibres exhibiting weak or strong hardening. The postbuckling formulation of the fibres is applied to yield the toughness increment due to the advancing kink bands, and consequently leads to a quantitative pre- diction on the overall compressive stress strain curves of the fibre-reinforced composites.

SOLUTION OF DIFFERENT HOLES SHAPE BORDERS OF FIBRE REINFORCED COMPOSITE PLATES BY INTEGRAL EQUATIONS

Accurate boundary conditions of composite material plates with different holes are founded to settle boundary condition problems of complex holes by conformal mapping method upon the nonhomogeneous anisotropic elastic and complex function theory. And then the two stress functions required were founded on Cauchy integral by boundary conditions. The final stress distributions of opening structure and the analytical solution on composite material plate with rectangle hole and wing manholes were achieved. The influences on hole-edge stress concentration factors are discussed under different loads and fiber direction cases, and then contrast calculates are carried through FEM.

A Review on Development of Natural Fibre Composites for Construction Applications

This paper is a review of the past researcher of feasibility of the usage of natural fibre composites in various civil engineering applications and also the advantages and limitations of natural fibres reinforced composites. As the world is gathering attention towards the renewable resources for environmental purposes, studies of natural fibre have been increasing further due to the application of natural fibre throughout various industries such as aerospace, automobiles and construction sectors. This paper is started with brief information regarding the natural fibre composite materials, the natural fibre composite for structural and infrastructure applications, its advantages and also its limitations. With their unique and wide range of variability, natural fibre composites could emerge as a new alternative engineering material that can substitute the use of synthetic fibre composites.

CURE OF PREPOLYMER BASED ON METHYL METHACRYLATE/STYRENE AND OPTICAL PROPERTY AND HYDROTHRMAL STABILITY OF TRANSPARENT FIBRE—REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC COPOLYMER COMPOSITES

: Copolymers used for transparent fibre glass-reinforced thermoplastic composite -were prepared from methyl methacrylate (.MMA) and styrene (St). Composites containing 20~25 ivt% glass fibre and 0. 7 mm in thickness had an overall optical transmission of 88 ~90%. The gel time and cure time of the prepolymers from MM A and St decreased markedly ivith addition of tiie two linear unsaturated polyesters (.LUPE) and curing process of composite laminate became controlling easily-The effect of the concentration of LUPE on thermal stability of copolymers 晅he optical properties and the hydrothermal sta-bility of composites was investigated by comparing with those of trans-parent unsaturated composites .

COMPUTER SIMULATION OF CREEP DAMAGE AT CRACK TIP IN SHORT FIBRE COMPOSITES

Creep damage at crack tip in short fibre composites has been sim- ulated by using the finite element method(FEM).The well-known Schapery non- linear viscoelastic constitutive relationship was used to characterize time-dependent behaviour of the material.A modified recurrence equation was adopted to accelerate the iteration.Kachanov-Rabotnov's damage evolution law was employed.The growth of the damage zone with time around the crack tip was calculated and the results were shown with the so-called 'digit photo',which was produced by the printer.

Concurrent Material Selection of Natural Fibre Filament for Fused Deposition Modeling Using Integration of Analytic Hierarchy Process/Analytic Network Process

The employment of natural fibres in fused deposition modeling has raised much attention from researchers in finding a suitable formulation for the natural fibre composite filaments.Moreover,selection of suitable natural fibres for fused deposition modeling should be performed before the development of the composites.It could not be performed without identifying selection criteria that comprehend both materials and fused deposition modeling process requirements.Therefore,in this study,integration of the Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP)/Analytic Network Process(ANP)has been introduced in selecting the natural fibres based in different clusters of selection concurrently.The selection process has been performed based on the interdependency among the selection criteria.Pairwise comparison matrices are constructed based on AHP’s hierarchical model and super matrices are constructed based on the ANP’s network model.As a result,flax fibre has ranked at the top of the selection by scored 19.5%from the overall evaluation.Flax fibre has excellent material properties and been found in various natural fibre composite applications.Further investigation is needed to study the compatibility of this fibre to be reinforced with a thermoplastic polymer matrix to develop a resultant natural fibre composite filament for fused deposition modeling.

Characteristic of Fresh and Harden Properties of Polyvinyl Alcohol Fibre Reinforced Alkali Activated Composite

Fibre can enhance the mechanical properties of cement-based composites,but fibre also degrades their workability.However,the quantitative effects of fiber content and length-diameter ratio on alkali-activated materials are still unclear.Various aspect ratio,volume fraction of polyvinyl alcohol fibre(PVAF),and various water-binder ratio were employed to prepare a total of 26 groups of fibre reinforced alkali-activated composite(FRAAC).The influence of PVAF fibre factor(product of fiber volume fraction and length-diameter ratio)on flowability,compactness,strength,and crack fractal dimension of FRAAC was researched.The influence of water-binder ratio on the plastic viscosity of FRAAC was more significant than that on the yield stress.When fibre factor was lower than critical value of 150,the influence of fibres could be overlooked.The reason was that the space between fibres was distant,so the flowability of FRAAC was not impacted by PVAF.At this time,fibres were challenging to restrict the cracks in matrix and increase their mechanical properties.When fibre factor was higher than critical value 150 and lower than density packing value 450,the flexural strength,compressive strength and crack fractal dimension of FRAAC were considerably enhanced,and the FRAAC could still flow easily under dead weight.When fibre factor were above 450,noteworthy fibre balling considerably decreased the flowability,leading to poor solidity and reduced compressive strength.Hence,the ideal content of PVAF in alkali activated composite is between 150/(l/d)and 450/(l/d).

Materials Selection of Thermoplastic Matrices of Natural Fibre Composites for Cyclist Helmet Using an Integration of DMAIC Approach in Six Sigma Method Together with Grey Relational Analysis Approach

Natural fibre reinforced polymer composite(NFRPC)materials are gaining popularity in the modern world due to their eco-friendliness,lightweight nature,life-cycle superiority,biodegradability,low cost,and noble mechanical properties.Due to the wide variety of materials available that have comparable attributes and satisfy the requirements of the product design specification,material selection has become a crucial component of design for engineers.This paper discusses the study’s findings in choosing the suitable thermoplastic matrices of Natural Fibre Composites for Cyclist Helmet utilising the DMAIC,and GRA approaches.The results are based on integrating two decision methods implemented utilising two distinct decision-making approaches:qualitative and quantitative.This study suggested thermoplastic polyethylene as a particularly ideal matrix in composite cyclist helmets during the selection process for the best thermoplastic matrices material using the 6σtechnique,with the decision based on the highest performance,the lightest weight,and the most environmentally friendly criteria.The DMAIC and GRA approach significantly influenced the material selection process by offering different tools for each phase.In the future study,selection technique may have been more exhaustive if more information from other factors had been added.

Material Selection of a Natural Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites using an Analytical Approach

Material selection has become a critical part of design for engineers,due to availability of diverse choice of materials that have similar properties and meet the product design specification.Implementation of statistical analysis alone makes it difficult to identify the ideal composition of the final composite.An integrated approach between statistical model and micromechanical model is desired.In this paper,resultant natural fibre and polymer matrix from previous study is used to estimate the mechanical properties such as density,Young’s modulus and tensile strength.Four levels of fibre loading are used to compare the optimum natural fibre reinforced polymer composite(NFRPC).The result from this analytical approach revealed that kenaf/polystyrene(PS)with 40%fibre loading is the ideal composite in automotive component application.It was found that the ideal composite score is 1.156 g/cm^(3),24.2 GPa and 413.4 MPa for density,Young’s modulus and tensile strength,respectively.A suggestion to increase the properties on Young’s modulus are also presented.This work proves that the statistical model is well incorporated with the analytical approach to choose the correct composite to use in automotive application.

Analytical study of the interface in fibre-reinforced 2D composite material

Imperfect bonding between the constitutive components can greatly affect the properties of the composite structures.An asymptotic analysis of different types of imperfect interfaces arising in the problem of 2D fibrereinforced composite materials are proposed.The performed study is based on the asymptotic reduction of the governing biharmonic problem into two harmonic problems.All solutions are obtained in a closed analytical form.The obtained results can be used for the calculation of pull-out and pushout tests,as well as for the investigation of the fracture of composite materials.

Cracking Behaviour of Al_2O_3 Short Fibre/Al-5.5Zn Composite in TEM

The micromechanical behaviour of Al2O3 short fibre reinforced Al-5.5Zn matrix composite has been in-situ studied by using TEM. The results show that in the composite the nucleation and propagation of cracks take place mainly in the matrix, as well as in the region near the fibre/matrix interface. It has been also observed that the microcracks can close during unloading.So the fracture property can be characterized by crack open displacement (COD). The cracking characteristic may result from the large strength difference between the matrix and fibre.

Optimization Mechanism of Mechanical Properties of Basalt Fiber-Epoxy Resin Composites by Interfacially Enriched Distribution of Nano-Starch Crystals

Fibre reinforced polymer composites have become a new generation of structural materials due to their unique advantages such as high specific strength,designability,good dimensional stability and ease of large-area monolithic forming.However,the problem of interfacial bonding between the resin matrix and the fibres limits the direct use of reinforcing fibres and has become a central difficulty in the development of basalt fibre-epoxy composites.This paper proposes a solution for enhancing the strength of the fibre-resin interface using maize starch nanocrystals,which are highly yield and eco-friendly.Firstly,in this paper,corn starch nanocrystals(SNC)were prepared by hydrolysis,and were deposited on the surface of basalt fibers by electrostatic adsorption.After that,in order to maximize the modification effect of nano-starch crystals on the interface,the basalt fiber-epoxy resin composite samples were prepared by mixing in a pressureless molding method.The test results shown that the addition of basalt fibers alone led to a reduction in the strength of the sample.Deposition of 0.1 wt%SNC on the surface of basalt fibers can make the strength consistent with pure epoxy resin.When the adsorption amount of SNC reached 0.5 wt%,the tensile strength of the samples was 23.7%higher than that of pure epoxy resin.This is due to the formation of ether bond homopolymers between the SNC at the fibre-epoxy interface and the epoxy resin,which distorts the originally smooth interface,leading to increased stress concentration and the development of cracks.This enhances the binding of basalt fibers.The conclusions of this paper can provide an effective,simple,low-cost and non-polluting method of interfacial enhancement modification.

Manufacturing Process Selection of “Green” Oil Palm Natural Fiber Reinforced Polyurethane Composites Using Hybrid TEA Criteria Requirement and AHP Method for Automotive Crash Box

In this study,the best manufacturing process will be selected to build an automotive crash box using green oil palm natural fibre-reinforced polyurethane composite materials.This paper introduces an approach consist of technical aspects(T),the economic point of view(E)and availability(A),and it’s also called as TEA requirement.This approach was developed with the goal of assisting the design engineer in the selection of the best manufacturing process during the design phase at the criteria selection stage.In this study,the TEA requirement will integrate with the analytical hierarchy process(AHP)to assist decision makers or manufacturing engineers in determining the most appropriate manufacturing process to be employed in the manufacture of a composite automotive crash box(ACB)at the early stage of the product development process.It is obvious that a major challenge in the manufacturing selection process is lack of information regarding manufacturing of ACB using natural fibre composite(NFC).There have been no previous studies that examined ranking manufacturability processes in terms of their suitability.Therefore,the TEA-AHP hybrid method was introduced to provide unprejudiced criteria-ranking selection prior to evaluation of pairwise comparisons.At the end of this study,the pulforming process was selected as the best manufacturing process for fabrication of the ACB structural component.

Influence of voids on interlaminar shear strength of carbon/epoxy fabric laminates

The effects of voids(void content,void shape and size)on the interlaminar shear strength of[(±45)_(4)/(0,90)/(±45)_(2)]_(S) and [(±45)/0_(4)/(0,90)/0_(2)]_(S) composite laminates were investigated.Specimens with void contents in the range of 0.2%-8.0%for [(±45)_(4)/(0,90)/(±45)_(2)]_(S) and 0.2%-6.1%for[(±45)/0_(4)/(0,90)/0_(2)]_(S) were fabricated from carbon/epoxy fabric through varying autoclave pressures.The characteristics of the voids were studied by using optical image analysis to explain the interlaminar shear strength results.The influences of voids on the interlaminar shear strength of the two stacking sequences were compared in terms of the void content and size and shape of the void.The effect of voids on the initiation and propagation of interlaminar failure of both stacking sequence composites was found.

Tribological behaviour of fused deposition modelling printed short carbon fibre reinforced nylon composites with surface textures under dry and water lubricated conditions

Fused deposition modelling(FDM)printed short carbon fibre reinforced nylon(SCFRN)composites were fabricated.The friction and wear behaviour of printed materials were systematically investigated under both dry sliding and water lubricated conditions.The results showed that with short fibre enhancements,the printed SCFRN achieved a lower friction coefficient and higher wear resistance than nylon under all tested conditions.Further,under water lubricated conditions,the printed SCFRN exhibited a low,stable friction coefficient due to the cooling and lubricating effects of water.However,the specific wear rate of the printed specimens could be higher than that obtained under dry sliding conditions,especially when the load was relatively low.The square textured surface was designed and created in the printing process to improve materials’tribological performance.It was found that with the textured surface,the wear resistance of the printed SCFRN was improved under dry sliding conditions,which could be explained by the debris collection or cleaning effect of surface texture.However,such a cleaning effect was less noticeable under lubricated conditions,as the liquid could clean the surface effectively.On the other hand,surface textures could increase the surface area exposed to water,causing surface softening due to the higher water absorption rate.As a result,the samples having surface textures showed higher wear rates under lubricated conditions.The work has provided new insights into designing wear resistant polymer materials using three-dimensional(3D)printing technologies,subjected to different sliding conditions.

Deflection analysis of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with carbon fibre reinforced polymer under long-term load action

This paper presents the results of an experimental research on reinforced concrete beams strengthened with an external carbon fibre reinforced polymer(CFRP) layer under long-term load action that lasted for 330 d.We describe the characteristics of deflection development of the beams strengthened with different additional anchorages of the external carbon fibre composite layer during the period of interest.The conducted experiments showed that the additional anchorage influences the slip of the external layer with respect to the strengthened element.Thus,concrete and carbon fibre composite interface stiffness decreases with a long-term load action.Therefore,the proposed method of analysis based on the built-up-bars theory can be used to estimate concrete and carbon fibre composite interface stiffness in the case of long-term load.

Performance Evaluation of Calcium Alkali-treated Oil Palm/Pineapple Fibre/Bio-phenolic Composites

The utilisation of oil palm fibre(OPF)and pineapple leaf fibres(PALF)as reinforcement materials for bio-phenolic composites is growing especially in automotive lightweight applications.The major aim of this current study is to investigate the influence of alkali(Ca(OH)_(2)) treatment on pure and hybrid composites.The effects of enhancements in chemical interactions were evaluated by the Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrometer(FTIR).Dynamic Mechanical Analysis(DMA)and Thermogravimetric Analysis(TGA)performance of untreated reinforcements(OPF and PALF)and treated(OPF/OPF)composites at varying temperature and noted sufficient interfacial bonding contributing towards the improvements in thermal stability.From DMA results,the storage modulus improved with treated composites while the damping factor was reduced.Furthermore,the treated hybrid composites exhibited significant improvements in thermal stability compared to untreated fibre composites.The results indicated that alkali calcium hydroxide(Ca(OH2(:T)incorporation in hybrid composites(OPF/PALF)results in increased tensile strength and modulus among all composites.Similarly,the alkali-treated(Ca(OH)_(2))-treated pure composite(T/50%PALF),and hybrid composites(T/1OPF.1PALF)exhibited better flexural strength as compared with other composites.In contrast,the T/50%PALF showed higher flexural stress of 78.2 MPa,while the flexural modulus was recorded at 6503 MPa.It can be proposed from the findings of this study that the alkali treatment(5%Ca(OH)_(2))can be utilised to improve the strength and efficiency of agriculture biomass to be used as reinforcements in composites.Additionally,the hybridisation of bio-fibre composites has the potential as a novel variety of biodegradable and sustainable composites appropriate for several industrial and engineering applications.

Development of impact resistant 3D printed multi-layer carbon fibre reinforced composites by structural design

In this study,a high impact resistant multi-layered composite consisting of continuous carbon fibre/nylon(CCF)and short carbon fibre/nylon(SCF)layers is developed via 3D printing technology.The effect of CCF/SCF layers configuration on the impact resistance is investigated by low-velocity impact test,and the impact failure mechanism of the 3D printed composites is explored by microscopic observations and finite element(FE)simulation analysis.The results show that the 3D printed multi-layered composite with SCF layers distributed in the middle(HFA)exhibits higher impact resistant performance than the specimens with alternating SCF/CCF layers(HFB)and CCF layers distributed in the middle(HFC).The effect of CCF/SCF layers proportion on the impact performance is also studied by FE simulation,and the results show that the specimen with a CCF/SCF proportion of 7.0 exhibits the highest impact strength.