Enhancement of fire retardancy properties of glass fibre–reinforced polyesters composites

Abstract

Summary This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the fire retardancy properties of glass fibre–reinforced polyester (GFRP) composites with bisphenol‐A vinylester and isophthalic polyester as matrices and low electrical conductivity E‐glass fibres as reinforcement. The fire protection systems tested were alumina trihydrate (ATH), decabromodiphenyl ether (DBDE), and antimony trioxide (Sb2O3). A mass loss cone calorimeter was used to obtain the properties of heat release rate (HRR), peak HRR, total heat released, total mass loss, time to ignition, and time of combustion. Moreover, limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL‐94, and glow‐wire tests were also performed. The fire tests were carried out in order to investigate if the combination of ATH and DBDE could have “additive,” “antagonistic,” or “synergistic” effects on the flame retardant properties of the GFRP studied in this work. In addition, the influence of the ATH content variation on flame retardant properties was also evaluated. The results indicate that the sole addition of ATH at 47.7 phr could lead to the complete inhibition of the composites ignition, while the materials containing DBDE exhibit ignition and flame propagation in the cone calorimeter test.

Effects of additives on the cure kinetics of vinyl ester pultrusion resins

“…Mahesh et al 75 studied the effects of the simultaneous addition of organomodified nanoclay, magnesium hydroxide, and Al(OH) 3 on both the thermal and fire reaction properties of nanoclay/polyvinyl ester resin. De Freitas Rocha et al 76 examined the improvements in the fire reaction performance of glass fiberreinforced composites based on either polyester or vinyl ester matrices with the addition of Al(OH) 3 , decabromodiphenyl ether, and antimony trioxide.…”

Preparation of Room Temperature Vulcanized Silicone Rubber Foam with Excellent Flame Retardancy

“…And the compressive stress was calculated following the formula where σ is the press stress (Pa), P is the loaded force (N), and A is the base area of the specimen (mm −2 ). The fire-retardancy property of the composites was studied with the vertical burning tests according to the UL-94 method [ 15 , 16 ], and the materials are classified as V0, V1, or V2. The specimens with a size of 125 mm × 13 mm × 1.6 mm were ignited with methane.…”

“…Secondly, the total afterflame time (t 1 + t 2 ) for any condition set for each specimen was less than 50 s. Thirdly, the afterflame plus afterglow time for each specimen after the second flame application was less than 30 s. Meanwhile, afterflame or afterglow of 6 Scanning any specimen up to the holding clamp was not observed, nor the cotton indicator was ignited by flaming particles or drops. Therefore, all samples were rating in V0 [15,16,20]. The excellent fire-retardant properties were endowed by the synergetic effect of silicone rubber and the fire-retardant additives and ensured the composite materials practical application foreground in fireproof sealing.…”

Towards Selection Charts for Epoxy Resin, Unsaturated Polyester Resin and Their Fibre-Fabric Composites with Flame Retardants

“…The points that are located in the poor zone correspond to graphene grafted by DOPO(G-DOPO) [ 112 ] and carbon nanotubes [ 113 ] that are added to carbon fibre reinforced epoxy resin with a low loading content of below 5%. Alternatively, the point located in the excellent zone corresponds to bromine-based FR synergized with antimony trioxide that is added to glass fibre reinforced unsaturated polyester composite [ 115 ].…”