Glass fiber-reinforced polymer bars are currently used to reinforce concrete in an attempt to overcome the corrosion issue encountered with ordinary steel. Different types of surface treatment were applied to the smooth rods in order to enhance bonding with concrete. Experimental results show that using bars coated with coarse sand notably improve the bond strength. The influence of granulometry sand, rebar diameter, length embedded, and concrete strength are analyzed. Rebars coated with finer sand lead to a stronger chemical adhesion with concrete. However, the effect of friction and interlocking forces produced by coarse sand prevails over the chemical adhesion in the pull-out test.Fil: Morales Arias, Juan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería "Hilario Fernández Long". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería "Hilario Fernández Long"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Construcciones y Estructuras. Laboratorio de Materiales y Estructuras; ArgentinaFil: Vázquez, Analía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería "Hilario Fernández Long". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería "Hilario Fernández Long"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Construcciones y Estructuras. Laboratorio de Materiales y Estructuras; ArgentinaFil: Escobar, Mariano Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería "Hilario Fernández Long". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Tecnologías y Ciencias de la Ingeniería "Hilario Fernández Long"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Construcciones y Estructuras. Laboratorio de Materiales y Estructuras; Argentin

Natural fiber-reinforced composite (NFRC) filaments for 3D printing were fabricated using polylactic acid (PLA) reinforced with 1–5 wt% henequen flour comprising particles with sizes between 90–250 μm. The flour was obtained from natural henequen fibers. NFRCs and pristine PLA specimens were printed with a 0° raster angle for tension tests. The results showed that the NFRCs’ measured density, porosity, and degree of crystallinity increased with flour content. The tensile tests showed that the NFRC Young’s modulus was lower than that of the printed pristine PLA. For 1 wt% flour content, the NFRCs’ maximum stress and strain to failure were higher than those of the printed PLA, which was attributed to the henequen fibers acting as reinforcement and delaying crack growth. However, for 2 wt% and higher flour contents, the NFRCs’ maximum stress was lower than that of the printed PLA. Microscopic characterization after testing showed an increase in voids and defects, with the increase in flour content attributed to particle agglomeration. For 1 wt% flour content, the NFRCs were also printed with raster angles of ±45° and 90° for comparison; the highest tensile properties were obtained with a 0° raster angle. Finally, adding 3 wt% content of maleic anhydride to the NFRC with 1 wt% flour content slightly increased the maximum stress. The results presented herein warrant further research to fully understand the mechanical properties of printed NFRCs made of PLA reinforced with natural henequen fibers.

Self-reinforced composites based on commercial polypropylene (PP) woven fabrics and a random PP copolymer modified with quartz were obtained by film stacking. The effect of the incorporation of quartz on the materials fracture and failure behavior was studied through uniaxial tensile tests and quasi-static fracture experiments. Acoustic emission analysis was also performed in situ in the tensile tests. A higher consolidation quality was obtained for the composites containing quartz. In the composite with random PP modified with 5 wt% quartz, the higher consolidation and the better dispersion of quartz particles positively impacted on the materials tensile and fracture behavior. From the results of acoustic emission analysis, fiber fracture appears as the dominant failure mechanism in the investigated composites.

The change in stiffness with temperature in the presence of different media has been discussed for a long time because the ability to predict this behavior becomes fundamental to the design of new materials and their applications. That is why, in this work, the application of a mathematical model, which is able to predict the elastic properties of two polymers, is presented. The study takes into account the relationship between the viscoelastic and absorption properties of these materials in alkaline solution (Ca (OH) 2 , pH 12.5) and in distilled water (H 2 O, pH 7) as the immersion media. Diffusion coefficient values were higher when the resins were immersed in water than in the alkaline solution. In addition, the effect of the alkaline medium was higher for the unsaturated polyester resin (UPR). The highest decrease in modulus at the glassy state of the polymer network was observed for the UPR immersed in the alkaline medium. The greatest reduction of the T g value due to network plasticizing was found for the epoxy resin (ER) in the alkaline medium. Therefore, the ER exhibited a more stable behavior after aging at moderate temperature than the UPR. C 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Technol 201 , , 21684; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.