Woven fabrics used in composite materials are designed to fulfill specific manufacturing or structural requirements. Knowledge of the influence of the weave structure on the mechanical properties of the composite is essential to properly optimize the design of structural components. The focus of this work is to investigate the influence of the type of weave used for fabric reinforcement in polymers particularly on the in-plane shear mechanical performance. The selected materials are carbon fibers and epoxy resin. The laminates are manufactured by vacuum infusion. Three woven structures are selected for manufacturing the composite laminates: (a) a plain weave with unidirectional orientation in the warp direction, (b) a plain weave with balanced properties in the warp and weft directions and (c) a 2/2 twill weave with balanced properties in the warp and weft directions. The laminates are tested according to the ASTM D 4255 standard by a two-rail shear test under quasi-static monotonic and cyclic loading conditions. The resulting stress–strain curves are used to study the initial in-plane shear modulus and its evolution (which directly correlates with material damage) and the hardening produced by plastic strain. The results show that for vacuum infusion manufacturing, the weave structure has an influence on the resulting fiber and void volume fractions and, consequently, on the mechanical performance. However, for similar fiber volumes, the weave structure is found to have little effect on the experimental results.
The effect of virgin heterophasic PP copolymer (vPP) content on moisture absorption, as well as on thermal and mechanical properties of recycled polyethylene/ wood flour composites was investigated. The polymer matrix of recycled post-consumed plastic waste (rPE) was composed of a matrix of LDPE and a part of PP. Wood flour of Pinus radiata was used as filler at a constant loading of 45 wt.%. rPE/vPP blends and their composites were manufactured by melt blending, and then by injection molding. The morphology of the blends and composites was analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy. The addition of vPP improved tensile and flexural moduli and flexural strength of wood plastic composites (WPC). The highest increase of these properties was observed for a WPC sample with a rPE/vPP ratio of 19. WPC made with higher virgin PP content (rPE/vPP ratio = 9 and 5.7) showed lower increase of mechanical properties compared to polymer matrix and WrPE samples. The moisture uptake of WPC made of rPE/vPP blend was higher than those of rPE, and their mechanical properties were more adversely affected by immersion in water. TGA results indicate that rPE are thermally more stable than rPE/vPP blends. The incorporation of heterophasic PP copolymer into the recycled polymer matrix of WPC delays the starting of wood flour degradation.
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