The design of an epoxy adhesive was investigated by a 2 K design of experiment (DOE). All the assigned parameters showed no significant effect for both curing and mechanical properties, except for bisphenol A (BPA), which showed a significantly negative effect on the heat distortion temperature (HDT) of the cured samples. Adding dicyandiamine (DICY) into the hardener retarded cure time and also caused an incomplete curing at room temperature. Curing at 110 °C and 150 °C post curing were the optimal conditions and 20 g of DICY with 50 g of triethylenetetramine (TETA) was optimized. Adduct obtained from aliphatic epoxy (RD108, 14.63 g) and TETA (7.71 g) were selected and employed as hardener ingredients. The incomplete crosslinking reaction was the main reason for the inferior properties at high RD108 loadings. The toughening by blending with polycarbonate (PC) was explored, and 5 phr of PC was selected. Limitation of resin/fiber infusion due to high viscosity was observed. Dilution of the solvents using ethyl acetate (EA) and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) to reduce viscosity was explored. The mechanical properties of the wood samples manufactured from the EAdiluted epoxy were superior to the MEK dilution. The lower boiling point and good solubility of EA were explained.
Wood foam cores manufactured from Eucalyptus fiber/epoxy adhesive and 4,4′ oxybis(benzene sulfonyl hydrazide) (OBSH), ethyl acetate (EA), and microsphere polymer bead (Expancel®) as foaming agents were investigated. A 10 phr of OBSH showed superior properties of the 0.50 g/cm3 wood foam and that 0.70 g/cm3 was the optimal density. Also, 17 phr of EA loading gave rise to the better mechanical properties and was considered the optimal content. The microsphere polymer bead did not achieve significant expansion under the conditions employed. Manufacturing of single (X1) and double (X2) layer of lightweight sandwich structures engineered woods with teak/glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) skins was studied. The enhancement of the sandwich structures’ properties was mainly contributed by the core and also by the added thin interlaminated GFRP layer. In X1 and X2 sandwich structures, with the same volume fraction of core(s), marginal improvement occurred in the properties, caused by the addition of the thin inter-layer of GFRP. Small contributions of the core properties on the sandwich structures were also demonstrated. The sandwich structure derived from the OBSH core was superior in mechanical properties and heat distortion temperature (HDT). The sandwich structure made from EA was unsuccessful in achieving water resistance.
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